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!!The Aether Foundation
An organization dedicated to protecting hurt Pokémon, especially those who have been abused by Team Skull, on their own private island. However, there's more to them than it seems, which turns out to be them secretly having been in league with Team Skull the whole time, as their financial backer.
'''''WARNING: Major spoilers for VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon and VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon follow. Read at your own risk.'''''
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Tropes that apply to the whole group]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aether_foundation_employees.png]]
* AmbiguouslyBrown: The employees have a much darker skin color than most other villainous team grunts.
* AntiHeroTeam: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' the Aether Foundation genuinely wants to help Pokémon and protect the Alola region but will use unsavory methods to do so.]]
* CardCarryingVillain: Mostly subverted but one employee mentions that he's "embraced the darkness in his heart". [[spoiler:This same employee is implied to be the one that defects to Team Rainbow Rocket with Faba in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''.]]
* DeathGlare: The female employees sport these when battling the player during the Aether Foundation infiltration.
* EliteMooks: Aether Employees' choice of Pokémon make them a cut above the average evil team's grunts.
* ExhaustedEyeBags: The female employees sport these when battling the player during the Aether Foundation infiltration.
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:One employee defects to Team Rainbow Rocket alongside Faba]] in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: By means of a CallBack. Their uniforms (particularly their caps) resemble pallet swapped versions of Team Rocket's. This gives you an early hint that they're EvilAllAlong in ''Sun and Moon''. This trope is downplayed in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' as they are genuinely good, if on the WellIntentionedExtremist side of things.
* HeelFaceTurn: During the post-game of ''Sun and Moon'', after Lusamine's Ultra Beast obsession and affliction with Nihilego's neurotoxins has been dealt with, the protagonist can visit the Aether Foundation again. The Foundation is still around, but is now attempting to save and conserve Pokémon for real, with Gladion as their president. Further enforced by the animation set used by Aether Foundation employees in the Battle Tree being much friendlier than those used during the infiltration of Aether Paradise. [[spoiler:Similarly in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' once Lusamine fails in protecting Alola, she admits she was wrong to take Nebby, and the Aether Foundation goes on to trust in the protagonist to stop Necrozma.]]
* HelpfulMook: In Aether Paradise, one employee would man Gladion's boat for you should you ever need to return to the mainland, and another in the main entrance will heal your team. Averted with one mook in another room; who says that even if he loses, he won't tell you anything.
* JustFollowingOrders: The reason why you had to battle them when trying to look for Lillie was that they suddenly were put on high-alert and were ordered to stop intruders in general.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Have a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSVDUe2ymZY&index=64&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H laid-back and futuristic theme]] that plays throughout their paradise. There is also a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeEy-JlTZxY&index=74&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H violin version]] that plays in the standalone labs found throughout the region. It later receives a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4bMzkn4g2o&index=65&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H serene-yet-unsettling remix]] mixed with Lusamine's leitmotif in her encounter theme, a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf3fvqmKB1M&index=82&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H mysterious and villainous]] mix after their antagonistic side is exposed, a much more [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcSiaBnXdUs&index=87&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H threatening and cinematic mix]] in the Employee battle theme, and finally a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHoIWAuDilA&index=83&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H flat-out disturbing mix]] played in their secret basement.
* LightIsGood: Mostly in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' and after their HeelFaceTurn in the post-game of ''Sun and Moon''.
* LightIsNotGood: In contrast to the [[DarkIsEvil mainly-black Team Skull]], their main colours include white and gold, and they're just as much villains as the former in ''Sun and Moon''. However, they become good in the post-game after Lusamine's Ultra Beast obsession has been dealt with.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: A few employees were kept in the dark on the true intentions of the higher ups of the Foundation, and some of them even end up genuinely aiding the player and their friends along the way. Some of them make it clear that they are antagonizing the player for the sake of it, however.
* NoNameGiven: Played with. As soon as they're no longer considered villains, even generic members of the Aether Foundation trainer class are allowed to have real names. However, the named generic employees are only battled in the Battle Tree.
* ObviouslyEvil: Subverted. After the intro where Aether employees were chasing Lillie with [[SlasherSmile Slasher Smiles]], was anybody really buying that they were a benevolent company, on a mission to help all Pokémon? However, it is implied that the majority of employees don't even know what's going on and are hostile only due to you being an intruder. In the post-game, once Lusamine's obsession with the Ultra Beasts and affliction with Nihilego's neurotoxins has been dealt with, the Aether Foundation really ''does'' become a benevolent company that helps Pokémon. This trope is also subverted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:as they are a benevolent company that helps Pokémon but kidnap Nebby in an effort to stop Necrozma from stealing Alola's light.]]
* PoorPredictableRock: Averted. Aether Employees aren't restricted to typical grunt Pokémon. Expect to see lots of types and strategies to boot.
* PunchClockVillain: With the exception of ''Sun and Moon's'' version of [[TheSociopath Lusamine]] and [[SmugSnake Faba]], most of the employees are really just doing their job and protecting their research from intruders (i.e. you). [[spoiler:Subverted with at least one employee in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', who joins Team Rainbow Rocket and aids Faba in a multi battle]].
* RuleOfCool: An employee expresses how she joined the team because she thought that the uniforms were cool, then [[RealityEnsues she laments how much work it is to look after Pokémon]].
* SlasherSmile: The male employees sport these when battling the player during the Aether Foundation infiltration. The ones that chase Lillie in the intro have them as well.
* UnwittingPawn: Most of the lower ranking members have no idea about the ''Sun and Moon's'' version of Lusamine's plans and only attack the player because they were told they were trying to steal Pokémon.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Whenever you see them on the second and third islands, they're celebrated by the populace, and work closely with trusted authorities. Because the protagonists took them down by storming their secluded headquarters before they can kickstart their leader's plan, most Alolan citizens are LockedOutOfTheLoop regarding their true intentions, though some important [=NPCs=] are hinted to know this but keep it secret for some reason. It helps that they undergo a HeelFaceTurn after Lusamine is taken down. This trope is subverted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where they're genuinely good as a whole, if misguided.
* WealthyPhilanthropist: According to a scientist at Aether Paradise, Lusamine's father was an immensely wealthy man who started the Aether Foundation because of his love for Pokémon.
* WouldHurtAChild: One employee implies that they're going to murder Hau, Gladion, and the Player after they go to the secret labs.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Lusamine]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lusamine_sm.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Click [[labelnote:here]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/motherbeast_lusamine.png[[/labelnote]] to see her fused form with Nihilego]]
--> ''"I still need that Pokémon. I need to get it back. [...] It looked like it was suffering... Like it pained it to be in this strange place... I can't bear to see that happen! I will save it. [[TraitorShot And I will love it]]!"'' - From VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon
--> ''"[[WellIntentionedExtremist I will force Cosmog to use it's power and it may very well die. But if it will save the world for all my beloved Pokémon, then that is what I will do.]] Lillie. I will be using the Cosmog you stole for a great purpose. [[PetTheDog You have kept it safe until now, and for that... I thank you.]]"'' - From VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon
The lovely Lusamine functions as the Aether Foundation’s president, though as it turns out, she's not as lovely as she seems.
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* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Subverted. She appears to be pretty young but is actually over 40.
* AbusiveParents: Discards her daughter Lillie, declaring her to be worthless, and was prepared to kill her during their confrontation in Ultra Space. She tightly controlled every aspect of her children's lives, right down to what clothes they could wear, as both Gladion and Lillie attest. Lillie later tells Gladion that, as bad as she was when they both lived with her, she got ''worse'' after he fled with Type: Null.
** [[spoiler:This behavior seems to be a result of Nihilego's neurotoxins as this trope is heavily downplayed in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. While she does keep some of her controlling tendencies and temporary disownment of her children, she isn't as abusive to them, just more of a case of being a tough parent struggling with her grief for losing her husband. Not to mention, some of her crueler dialogue is replaced with kinder dialogue.]]
* ActionMom: She is easily one of the strongest characters in the game, and could easily put Gladion or Lillie back in their place.
* AdaptationalHeroism: [[spoiler:In the original games, she is a crazed, abusive mother and BitchInSheepsClothing who is willing to callously off anyone in order to live out her obsession with Ultra Beasts, specifically Nihilego who causes this behavior with its neurotoxin, before suddenly having a HeelFaceTurn offscreen. In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' she is a [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-meaning]], decent if flawed ReasonableAuthorityFigure and AntiHero who is willing to do anything to save the people and Pokémon she loves from what Necrozma plans to do with Alola's light, as well as [[ParentsAsPeople genuinely caring for her children despite not being the best parent as well as being mad at them for stealing the Pokémon needed to stop Necrozma]], and finally seeing the error of her ways and changing them for the better.]]
* AdaptedOut: [[spoiler:Her Mismagius from the originals was switched out for a Lopunny in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. Due to her obsession with Nihilego and being inflicted with its neurotoxin no longer being present in these games, she never fuses with one and thus her Motherbeast form also does not appear]].
* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', her friendliness is shown here to be rather genuine, unlike the original games. First, she thanks Lillie for keeping Cosmog safe until it was captured. Then she takes a moment to show pity for Cosmog's pain, and acknowledges its love for Lillie. After she was defeated in Aether Paradise, instead of ranting like a bratty teenager like in the original games, she becomes impressed with the player character's strength in battle and compliments him/her. Finally, she feels genuinely touched by Gladion's concern for her, and takes a moment to reassure him that she'll be fine when she goes to stop Necrozma.]]
* AlmightyMom: No matter how much Lillie and Gladion try to stop her, she proves to be one step ahead. If it wasn't for you, she would've gotten what she wanted, (having Cosmog open up a wormhole so that she could unleash the Ultra Beasts, and also stay in Ultra Space) even after Gladion ran away with Type: Null, which was itself created to defeat those very same Ultra Beasts. And in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, [[spoiler:despite being mad at her children, she is willing to save them from Necrozma, along with all the Pokémon in existence.]]
* AmazonBrigade: Her Pokémon team is all-female with a [[CuteBruiser cute]] or beautiful theme. They are also one of the toughest fights in the game, with great natures, individual values, effort values, and Totem Boosts on top of that in their second battle.
* AntiHero: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:she is motivated by a desire to save the world and all the people and Pokémon she loves from Necrozma, as well as the desire to avenge the loss of her husband, rather than out of totally insane selfishness. That said, she still goes through with nearly killing Nebby to open the Ultra Wormhole.]]
* ArchnemesisDad: GenderFlipped: she's this for Gladion and Lillie, especially for the latter in the original games. The player and Hau are mostly just along for the ride in the main storyline, with Lusamine's children being the primary force when it comes to taking her down.
* AsleepForDays: In ''Sun and Moon.'' After being released from Nihilego, Lusamine falls into a coma. However, Lillie tells you after you beat the Pokémon League and during the celebration that Lusamine had recovered from her comatose state and even tried to come to the celebration as well.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: She is the president of the Aether Foundation and is one of the most difficult fights of the series.
* AxCrazy: In ''Sun and Moon.'' Be it innocent bystanders or her own children, she doesn't care who she has to hurt to get what she wants. To put things into perspective, even Guzma, the guy who calls himself "destruction in human form", thinks she's too far gone to be reasoned with, though this is admittedly after her mental state has gotten a lot worse from being inflicted with Nihilego's neurotoxins.
* BadassAdorable: Her team is full of them. Her team theme is cute or beautiful Pokémon[[note]]Clefable, Mismagius, Milotic, Lilligant, Bewear, and Lopunny[[/note]], and all five of them have perfect individual values ''and'' ideal natures and effort values, meaning that each of them is likely to be able to crush a casual player's Pokémon in a one-on-one fight unless they're facing a type or level disadvantage.
* BadassInCharge: Head of the Aether Foundation and their strongest trainer.
* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler:The Team Rainbow Rocket subplot in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' centers around Lusamine being held hostage while the evil team takes over Aether Paradise, all so Giovanni can use the Ultra Beasts' power to brainwash her into becoming his pawn and lending all of Aether's technology and knowledge of the Ultra Wormholes.]]
* BadBoss: In ''Sun and Moon''. Faba and Guzma are shown to be scared by her and think she's gone off the deep end. She also uses both of them as pawns and seemingly has no care about them.
* BearsAreBadNews: She has a Bewear, which are infamous for killing people by accident.
* BeautyIsBad: In ''Sun and Moon''.A deceptively beautiful woman secretly plotting to go to Ultra Space even if it means unleashing Ultra Beasts on Alola.
* BenevolentBoss: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she treats her employees far better than her original counterpart, even if she is not without flaws. She even treats Guzma more respectfully and makes good on her statement on how strong Guzma is by treating him more like a partner than a pawn.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:she is a very decent and well-meaning if flawed person. But she is a force to be reckoned with as well. Harming the people (including her children) and Pokemon she loves and the Aether Foundation is a '''''very''''' good way to get on her bad side. Just ask Faba and Necrozma.]]
* BigBad: Ultimately of ''Sun and Moon''. She's also the first female example in the series.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Appears to be a kind and helpful woman when she is introduced, but she is anything ''but'' that. [[spoiler:Averted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, when her kind and helpful nature is revealed to be genuine this time, as she is only harsh to Lillie and Gladion for stealing Cosmog and Type: Null, respectively, since they were both needed for more heroic purposes this time, and she only disowns them out of feelings of genuine betrayal and hurt disappointment. Her earlier behavior in ''Sun and Moon'' is implied to be a result of Nihilego's neurotoxins]]
* BonusBoss: [[spoiler:Exclusively in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she is one of two additional challengers in the Title Defense match.]]
* BossOnlyLevel: She is the only enemy in the small area of Ultra Space that you get to visit courtesy of Solgaleo/Lunala. There aren't even any random encounters. [[spoiler:But in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, that part of Ultra Space is called the Ultra Deep Sea, when Nihilego can be caught there many times, even Shiny ones!]]
* BossRemix: Her battle theme is a remix of her normal theme.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: In ''Sun and Moon''. She is unhealthily obsessed with [[EldritchAbomination Nihilego]] and the other Ultra Beasts. Considering that Nihilego is based on a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myxobolus_cerebralis Myxozoa]], which brainwashes the fish it infects, her obsession and insanity might stem from mind-control.
* BrokenBird: Once a paragon and a loving mother, Lusamine underwent a tragedy - namely [[spoiler:the loss of her husband and the father of her children to an Ultra Wormhole]] - that changed her personality for the worse, turning her into a controlling mother. Even in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where she's less abusive and doesn't descend into insanity, Lusamine is motivated to defeat Necrozma not out of altruism, but rather [[spoiler:to protect the ones she loves and for her own self-satisfaction, believing it will help her overcome the helplessness she felt when she lost Mohn.]]
* BrutalHonesty: Those comparisons between her and the player in ''Sun and Moon'' run really deep...
* CatchPhrase: "How annoying."
* ClimaxBoss: In ''Sun and Moon''. While not the FinalBoss, the battle with Motherbeast Lusamine concludes the game's primary storyline, with only the Pokémon League left afterwards. Fittingly, the fight is one of the most difficult in the game.
* CombatStilettos: She wears heels throughout most of the game and is an extremely proficient Pokémon battler. Her intro animation for her first fight and [[spoiler:Title Defense battle]] starts with a strong clack of her right heel.
* ConfusionFu: In ''Ultra Sun And Moon'', her Lopunny knows Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, ''and'' Dizzy Punch.
* ControlFreak: She was very controlling of her two children, down to choosing exactly they were allowed to wear. Before the reveal, she briefly tries the same on Hau, a small boy she'd never even met before.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist:
** Lusamine compares and contrasts with the BigBad of [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY the prior game]], Lysandre, in quite a few ways. Both of them are wealthy philanthropists who are introduced to the player long before their official reveal as villains, but Lysandre is a DevilInPlainSight whereas Lusamine's a BitchInSheepsClothing while under the influence of Nihilego. Lysandre directly leads his game's main villainous team while Lusamine serves as a MysteriousBacker to hers. The methods and motives of the two are parallel but also differ in some important ways: both want to destroy the world after spending years trying to better it, but Lysandre is convinced that mankind as a whole can't be saved because it's fundamentally flawed, while Lusamine rejected humanity because she can't comprehend why a select few - her family - never showed her what she believed to be love. Both of them are also very fixated on the concept of beauty, and have a significant but antagonistic relationship with the player's closest ally (Professor Sycamore for Lysandre, Lillie for Lusamine). Admittedly Lusamine's goals can be seen as more a rejection of the world and wanting to leave it behind rather than any desire to destroy it, indeed the only explicit destruction she mentions is being okay with the Ultra Beasts wrecking the islands if it makes them happy. Otherwise she is content to just stay in another dimension, unlike Lysandre who decided the world should change for him. While in [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunandMoon the retelling,]] Lusamine instead seeks to use Nebby to save Alola.
** She is also one to the BigBad of [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite the game even further back]], Ghetsis. Both of them lead a team who claim to look after the common welfare of Pokemon but while Team Plasma's true agenda is absolutely ruthless and self-serving, the Aether Foundation genuinely wanted to help Pokemon before Lusamine got involved with Nihilego and in the retelling is instead trying to save Alola. Both are also AbusiveParents. (Lusamine in the original game) However, while Team Plasma's ruse was paper-thin and it was clear that Team Plasma couldn't be trusted since they blatantly steal Pokemon from trainers to "free" them. The Aether Foundation does a ''much'' better job of hiding its shadowy intentions, using far more professional strategies and having far more resources to carry out their plans. While the Aether Foundation stayed whole in both the original game and it's retelling/remake, Team Plasma split, due to half following Ghetsis and half actually wanting to help Pokemon with their king, N. While Ghetsis was driven only by love for himself while harboring callous apathy or even outright contempt for others, Lusamine is driven by a self-serving insanity that she mistakenly believes is pure love and a desire to give love and affection to others she deems worthy of receiving it, induced by Nihilego. Both Ghetsis and Lusamine became physically ill by the end of their story arc, but while Ghetsis remained irredeemable to the last, Lusamine seeks to make amends, according to Lillie and is a much better person in ''Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon''.
** In ''Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon'' [[spoiler:she contrasts N. Both are the most altruistic villains in Pokémon and believe their actions will be for the benefit of Pokémon. However, N wanted to use a Legendary Pokémon to separate people and Pokémon in an incorrect view that they are better of that way and thought of himself as a hero when his actions were detrimental to both humans and Pokémon. Lusamine is trying to stop a dangerous Legendary Pokémon from destroying Alola and if she succeeded, she actually would have been a hero... but her methods would've likely alienated her from her children forever.]]
** On a more meta level, she's also the ''Pokémon'' series' [[TheSmurfettePrinciple very first female]] BigBad.
* CollectorOfTheStrange: Nothing gets stranger and more morbid than having dozens of '''cryogenically frozen Pokémon''' on display.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: She's the head of the Aether Foundation company and the main villain in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon''.
* CuteAndPsycho: In the final battle in Sun and Moon, her BadassAdorable Pokémon team get a little... demented.
* DarkActionGirl: The "Dark" part isn't obvious until later, but she's nonetheless a very competent opponent in battle.
* DeathGlare: In the final battle of ''Sun and Moon'', all of her 'mons except Bewear have these expressions when given a Totem aura.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Some of her actions (And even her motivations) actually make her somewhat like a ''player'' of the Pokémon games. [[YouBastard And it's played for horror.]]
** Lusamine loves Pokémon, especially ones that are needy or suffering, and wants all of them... which is a common goal in the franchise.
** Lusamine has a huge collection of Pokémon in cryogenic stasis. Hau, Lillie, and the player character are horrified at seeing this. How many players have a huge collection of Pokémon in PC Stasis, ''just'' like her? When Lillie calls her out on treating Pokémon and people as merely things to use and discard as she pleases, Lusamine responds by asking what makes her so different from the player character putting Pokémon they no longer need inside a Box. However, this comparison rings a bit hollow in these games, where Poké Pelago provides boxed Pokemon with a place to frolic. Obviously, Lusamine doesn't know about it, otherwise she'd know where her husband is -- but the player character surely does, and never thinks to mention it.
** A brand new unknown Pokémon appears. What does Lusamine want with it? Why... she wants it herself. Which most players ''wanted'' with the Ultra Beasts anyway.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' [[spoiler:she is trying to stop the latest Legendary Pokémon that is going out of control and threatening to destroy the region, just like players of past generations. However, she is oblivious to the fact her actions have the potential to harm others and she herself is unable to stop Necrozma. Her motives for stopping Necrozma are also implied to be more about avenging the loss of her husband rather than about saving Alola.]]
* DragonInChief: In ''Sun and Moon''. Nihilego is not considered sentient as it doesn't seem to have actual malice and is motivated on self-preservation. Lusamine is the one with the plan.
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: In ''Sun and Moon''. Her apparent "fusion" with the Nihilego she captured leaves her somehow an even more wrecked individual than before; that is, until she's knocked out of her senses by Solgaleo/Lunala and the Nihilego is off her. Information given about Nihilego in the post-game implies that this is basically what its neurotoxins always do to a host that it latches onto, and that Lusamine's repeated exposure to said toxin left her in a lingering case of sociopathic madness.
* DyingAsYourself: Downplayed in ''Sun and Moon''. While she doesn't actually die, she apparently returns to her former self before losing consciousness and entering a temporary coma.
* EasilyForgiven: Despite all she's done in ''Sun and Moon'', including trying to ''murder'' her children, once she's defeated and recovers from her coma Lillie says she wanted to attend the player being crowned Champion if she weren't too weak to go, implying they would have let her attend. Lillie is also comfortable letting her rebuild their relationship.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', it's more [[JustifiedTrope justified]], as Lusamine is not as villainous as she was in the original games. Because Lusamine is motivated by the desire to avenge the loss of her husband, Lillie makes it clear that while she didn't approve of her mother's methods, she understood that they were motivated by the desire to avenge her father. As such when Lusamine apologizes to her for what she did, it's obvious that Lillie had already forgiven her.
* EasterEgg: Two of her Pokémon, Lilligant and Clefable, had evolved through -- you guessed it -- a Sun and Moon Stone, respectively.
* EvilMatriarch: She's Lillie and Gladion's mother and the first female main antagonist in the main Pokémon games. [[spoiler:Subverted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, when she's revealed to have a kind and helpful nature this time, as she needs Cosmog to help protect Alola's Pokémon.]]
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Her fused form has eye-like patterns across her tentacles, with what seems to be Z-Crystals acting as their pupils.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: In ''Sun and Moon''. In contrast to most other ObviouslyEvil team leaders, she looks perfectly innocent and helpful (even resembling Gen [=IV=] BigGood Champion Cynthia to some degree), but is one of the most psychotic characters in the series.
* FallenHeroine: She used to be good before she lost her husband in the Ultra Wormhole, which caused her to take a much darker path. Assuming he was dead.
* FauxAffablyEvil: In ''Sun and Moon''. Like Ghetsis, in the Japanese version, she continues to speak in an overly polite manner even after she drops her charade.
* FeetFirstIntroduction: In both the English and Japanese trailers, though it's more apparent in the Japanese one. Zig-zagged in-game, as while you see her model first, the cutscene that plays when meeting her starts on her feet before panning up the rest of her body. Her battle animation is also introduced in this manner, probably as a deliberate CallBack to the above.
* FingerlessHands: After fusing with Nihilego, her shoes disappear, revealing her now toeless feet (though it's possible they're covered in some sort of substance or membrane).
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In ''Sun and Moon''. She is visibly annoyed when Hau mentions Lillie, and has a sinister grin when everyone else is freaking out over Nihilego's first appearance.
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: In ''Sun and Moon''. In her pre-battle animation as Motherbeast Lusamine, she throws her Ultra Ball and flies right towards the camera while pulling off a NightmareFace.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: How she presents herself in ''Sun and Moon'', and allegedly had been before she went insane. As of the present, she's anything ''but''.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' [[spoiler:however, this is a genuine aspect of her personality. She makes it clear that she will do anything to protect the Pokemon she loves from what Necrozma plans to do with Alola's light.]]
* FusionDance: Performs this with her Nihilego before the final boss battle in ''Sun and Moon''. This also gives all her Pokémon Totem Boosts. In reality though, this is very well likely how Nihilego further parasitizes on its host, and she ends up with a nice heaping load of neurotoxin in her system.
* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: She uses a Bewear.
* GirlyBruiser: All of her Pokémon are feminine in design and are among the toughest the player has to fight in the story.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Ultimately subverted. She secretly serves as this to Guzma in the first half of the game, because while she doesn't directly get involved in Team Skull's schemes, she ''is'' their secret financial backer. Later on, she takes Guzma's place as the BigBad of the game, thus becoming much more involved in the plot as the true main antagonist of ''Sun And Moon''.
* GracefulLoser: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', defeating her at Title Defense has her take her loss ''much'' better than previous battles, even as far as finding it ''interesting''.
* GreenThumb: Uses a Lilligant.
* GoodParents: [[AbusiveParents While not so much in the main story]], Lillie states that Lusamine was a kind, loving mother before she changed. In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[CharacterDevelopment you can see this side of her later in the story.]]
* HalfHumanHybrid: In ''Sun and Moon''. She fuses with Nihilego to create this.
* HeelFaceTurn:
** She comforts Lillie and finally recognizes her as being beautiful even when not dressed to resemble Nihilego, before falling into a coma. Lillie reveals at the end of the game that Lusamine regained consciousness and is starting to rebuild her relationship with her daughter, also wanting to see you at your coronation as Champion.
** [[spoiler:She has a much more detailed one in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', coming to full terms with her faults and feeling remorse for them, now being determined to do her best to make it up to her children - from a safe distance, as she doesn't want to control their lives anymore. She also occasionally battles you in as a Champion challenger, being gracious and complimentary to you when she does.]]
* TheHeavy: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''--her actions still cause much of the conflict, but her previous BigBad status is now taken by Necrozma and later [[spoiler:Giovanni]].
* HeavySleeper: In ''Sun and Moon''. According to Wicke in the ''Sun and Moon'' post-game, the Nihilego's neurotoxins still in Lusamine's body are causing her to have issues with waking up[[note]]Wicke specifically says "the President is having issues rousing herself"[[/note]], implying that the neurotoxins side-effects include something akin to narcolepsy.
* HorrifyingTheHorror: She absolutely adores Ultra Beasts, so when she tells someone "Run away... that thing is a monster!" in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' when Necrozma shows up, ''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness it's time to run your ass off]]''.
* IHaveNoSon: She claims that she has no children right to Lillie's face when you are trying to rescue Cosmog from the Aether Foundation, citing that anybody who truly loved her wouldn't have betrayed and abandoned her as Lillie and Gladion both did. Then again, she hasn't been herself for a while.
** [[spoiler:Downplayed in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where she still disowns her children for stealing Cosmog and Type: Null, respectively, but she'll still do everthing she can to save them along with the Pokémon of Alola from Necrozma's wrath. Even her facial emotions express how downplayed it is, going from an enraged scowl in the original games to a hurt and disappointed look in the new games.]]
* IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she reunites with Mohn when he visits Aether Paradise for a tour of the facility. He does not remember it, or her, but Lusamine doesn't press the issue any further, and lets him go because he's happier this way. That said it is indicated she may rekindle her relationship with Mohn, as he expresses that he intends to see her again.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe:
** She doesn't care about anyone that she doesn't deem beautiful enough for her love, and even those that she does consider worthy of her love are viewed as possessions rather than sentient beings with free will. Before the final battle with her, Lillie calls her out for only ever thinking about herself; Lusamine doesn't even try to deny it and flat-out asks Lillie why she ''shouldn't''.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' she still has this characteristic to a degree, Lillie summarizing her as a selfish person because she does what she thinks is best for everyone without considering the feelings of others.
* {{Jerkass}}: In ''Sun and Moon''. While she seems nice the first time you meet her, Lusamine is revealed to be nothing but an extremely [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] and [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] ''bitch''. She is also abusive to Lillie and Gladion, and even [[IHaveNoSon disowns them as her children later on because they dared to reject her "love".]] Not to mention she even tried to ''[[OffingTheOffspring kill them!]]''
* JerkassHasAPoint: In ''Sun and Moon''. She wasn't wrong about the fact that you can put additional Pokemon in the PC, so technically they ''can'' be replaced if they aren't strong enough (interestingly Sun and Moon introduced a method to make any Pokémon have perfect [=IV=]s, making her argument less true).
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:she gains more likeable and redeeming qualities, such as having more [[WellIntentionedExtremist understandable]] and less completely selfish [[AntiHero motives]], and [[JerkassRealization ultimately]] realizing [[HeelRealization her mistakes]] and [[HeelFaceTurn doing her best to make it up to her children]], as well as being more [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure reasonable]]. Also, she only disowns them because she felt genuinely betrayed by them when they took Cosmog and Type: Null, but she still says that she will save them from Necrozma, showing that for all of her abrasiveness towards her children, she still cares about them enough to save them from Necrozma. Her response to Hau's surprise at her familial connection between herself and her children describe her best.]]
-->'''Lusamine:''' Those wretches beside you left me. But I will still save them.
* KickTheDog: In ''Sun and Moon''. Minor one, but when Nebby cries out in pain after being used to open a door to Ultra Space, she yells at it for making too much noise.
--> ''Ugh, must you be so noisy, even inside there? What an annoying Pokémon. The only thing I need from you is your power!''
** Overall, knowing very well that Nebby's ability to create Ultra Wormholes might end up '''killing it''' but going through with her actions anyway is a much more major example.
** Averted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where she takes pity on Cosmog's pain and briefly hesitates when Lillie again emphasizes that what she is doing could kill it.
* KillerRabbit: Most of her team consists of cute, but deadly Pokémon, such as Clefable, Bewear, and, no pun intended, Lopunny.
* KnightOfCerebus: The best example of this in the main series since [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Cyrus]] himself, who began the series' CerebusSyndrome.
* KnightTemplar: She believes she is doing something righteous when it comes to helping injured Pokemon, while her true intentions are unusually bizarre and twisted. [[spoiler:She is somewhat more of a straight example in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where she wants to defeat Necrozma and save Alola, although it's all under the justification that she can't "love [her] babies" if the world's light is stolen.]]
* LackOfEmpathy: In ''Sun and Moon''. When Lillie begs her not to use Nebby to open the Ultra Wormholes, warning her that doing so might kill it, Lusamine informs her that she knows that might happen, but as long as it does what she wants it to, she doesn't ''care''.
** [[spoiler:Averted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. When Lillie tells her that using Nebby to open the Ultra Wormhole might kill it, Lusamine understands it and clearly doesn't want to do this to Nebby, but she feels that she must in order to save Alola from Necrozma. After Necrozma's defeat at the hands of the player, Lusamine decides to take Nebby back to Aether Paradise to care for it, and orders Lillie to help care for it too, as a way to make up for what she did.]]
* LadyOfWar: She is a beautiful woman who gives off a serene and elegant aura, and also happens to be one of the most formidable battlers in Alola. This extends to her team, which are all stereotypically cute, elegant, or feminine in some way, and are also extremely powerful.
* LargeAndInCharge: She's rather tall and is the boss of the Aether Foundation.
* LaserGuidedKarma: In ''Sun and Moon''. In Ultra Space she ends up being defeated by the evolved Cosmog, [[TheDogBitesBack the same Pokémon she sent goons to chase after and ultimately abused it nearly to the point of death for her own selfish desires]].
* LeeroyJenkins: [[spoiler:Her sudden decision to fight Necrozma head-on alongside Guzma pretty much obliterated the Ultra Recon Squad's plans and burned the ashes.]]
* LightIsGood: Downplayed in ''Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:as she is willing to sacrifice Nebby if it means she can save Alola from Necrozma.]]
* LightIsNotGood: In ''Sun and Moon''. She's angelic in appearance, though ''definitely'' not in behavior. [[WomanInWhite She wears mostly white with gold]] with blonde hair and she's the biggest KnightOfCerebus since Cyrus as she outcasts two of her family members as tools for her will and when they defy her she decides to try to kill them (only when her madness reaches its peak though). She also is willing to [[ColdBloodedTorture torture "Nebby" to death]]. She states very clearly that if everyone doesn't agree to her standards then [[OmnicidalManiac everyone can die by her will]]. She's also a BadBoss who uses her minions as pawns.
* LivingDollCollector: She has a collection of Pokémon that she cryogenically froze to preserve their "beauty and perfection". She also treats her own children as dolls rather than people in ''Sun And Moon'', expecting them to look and behave however she wants them too, and viciously discarding them when they display the slightest bit of independence. Gladion likens living with her to being a "living ornament" instead of a person.
** [[spoiler:This is implied to be taken in a different direction in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where Lusamine is implied to have cryogenically froze her Pokémon collection and controlling her children to a certain degree [[NeverBeHurtAgain as a way to prevent losing anything else she loves,]] [[NeverBeHurtAgain like her husband Mohn]].]]
* LoveFreak:
** {{Deconstructed}}. Lusamine's motivations revolve around love, and she rants about trying to spread her love to everyone around her several times. The problem is, as a textbook {{sociopath}}, Lusamine doesn't really understand what love is, and as a result her brand of controlling affection tends to push others away, leaving her bewildered and angry over how anyone could reject her love before writing them off as being "ugly" and unworthy of her affections.
** It's revealed in the post-game that her father, who founded the Aether Foundation, was also a LoveFreak and that Lusamine inherited his love for Pokémon, particularly those that are beautiful or those most in need of it. She also loved her husband and children, loving the former so much that she drove herself mad in her research and experiments with Ultra Wormhole energy trying to bring him back after he went missing in the Wormhole. Then she discovered Nihilego and things took a drastic turn for the worse.
** Even in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' she cites her love for all Pokémon as her main motivation. Fortunately, she has a HeelRealization before it can get as extreme as it did in ''Sun and Moon'', claiming that a love where she can let others flourish on their own is a more beautiful kind of love.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: It's implied that her obsession with Ultra Beasts in ''Sun and Moon'' and her hatred towards Ultra Wormholes ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' came out of desperation to find her missing husband.
* MamaBear: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' [[spoiler:despite disowning her children because they left her, she still cares about them enough to try and protect them from Necrozma, and even when she is defeated, [[GoOnWithoutMe she tells Lillie and the player character to run away without her so she'll be safe from Necrozma.]]]]
* MagicPants: When fusing with Nihilego, her brooch, shoes and stockings disappear, only to come back intact after she's separated.
* MakingASplash: Uses a Milotic.
* TheManBehindTheMan: She's this in the first part of the story for Guzma, and therefore Team Skull, as their secret supporter.
* ManipulativeBitch: Lusamine's twisted perception of love is psychologically manipulating anyone she's fond of to keep them in line so she can continue to use them as puppets, and employs this on her children. She also sponsored Team Skull and convinced them to do her dirty work by taking advantage of their financial difficulties and personal turmoil, and [[VillainWithGoodPublicity used the Aether Foundation’s benevolent image to present herself as a good person]]. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', while her manipulative nature is still in place, her reasons are more altruistic, only needing Cosmog to open the Ultra Wormhole to stop Necrozma from stealing Alola's light, and having the Aether Foundation stop anyone who gets in her way to make sure no one can interfere with what she feels is for the greater good.]]
* MaskOfSanity: Lusamine's vicious insanity is very carefully masked behind an empathetic and loving facade. [[spoiler:Averted in ''Ultra Sun and Moon'', where her empathetic and loving nature is genuine this time, to the point where she'll do anything to protect all the Pokémon in existence, no matter what she has to do. It is implied that in ''Sun and Moon'' her previous behavior is a result of Nihilego's neurotoxins.]]
* MeaningfulName:
** The plant she's named after (the garden balsam or ''Impatiens balsamina'') is a beautiful ornamental plant with healing properties, fitting her benevolent appearance. However, it's also bitter and slightly toxic upon ingestion - which fits with [[BitchInSheepsClothing her nature under Nihilego's neurotoxins.]]
** Her English name keeps the above reference but brings to mind the Latin ''lux'' (light), in keeping with her appearance and status as head of the seemingly good Aether Foundation.
* MoralMyopia: In her Nihilego-induced state, Lusamine suffers almost from a BlueAndOrangeMorality where she cannot and does not comprehend that she and her actions could be wrong in any way. This makes her so disconnected from reality that she sees nothing wrong with hurting people, but can't stand when it naturally drives them away. In her eyes, rebelling against her wishes or showing any sort of opposition makes them "ugly" and no longer worthy of love; meanwhile ''she'' is the victim who's being hurt by ''them'' and never did anything wrong to deserve such treatment. After losing to the player character for the first time, she even asks him/her, without a hint of irony, "How can you be so ''awful?''" When later confronted by the player character and Lillie in Ultra Space, she actually states to her own daughter that she will never forgive her for stealing Cosmog from her, which really rings hollow considering that she tortured Cosmog into opening up multiple Ultra Wormholes against its will.
* MotiveRant: A brief one after Nihilego's first appearance, as she filibusters about sharing her love with the Ultra Beasts and all the other Pokémon in the world. [[CerebusRetcon It becomes much darker in hindsight]] once her TrueColors are revealed and the player learns just how twisted Lusamine's concept of "love" really is in ''Sun and Moon''.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Mother Beast Lusamine has several tentacles, four of which even have claws that make them look more hand-like. Ironically, she still lets her Pokémon do the fighting as opposed to getting involved herself.
* MumLooksLikeASister: She's in her 40s, but barely looks much older than her children.
* MyBelovedSmother: This is at least part of the reason Gladion ran away in ''Sun and Moon''; as according to him, he was "like an ornament" to her, wearing whatever she told him to wear, and acting however she wanted him to act. It's also why Lillie is so timid and lacks confidence.
* MysteriousBacker: Team Skull's. Her identity is at best, vaguely alluded to a few times, and it's only after Lillie is kidnapped that it comes out in full.
* NeverMyFault: She has a big problem with this in ''Sun and Moon'', [[MoralMyopia thinking she is justified in everything she does and that anyone who opposes her are the bad ones.]] [[spoiler:Not so much in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where she shows signs of wavering and has to convince herself what she's doing is justified, and then clearly admits that she was wrong and Lillie was right after getting her ass kicked by Necrozma.]]
* NoblewomansLaugh: Often does one when she's mocking Lillie. It is also her speaking animation in the overworld, as well as one of her poses in one of her ''TCG'' artworks.
* NonActionBigBad: Zigzagged -- She's plenty active in the story of ''Sun and Moon'' and battles the player twice, but after fusing with Nihilego and taking on a surely-stronger OneWingedAngel form... She still uses her Pokémon to fight the player, rather than battle them directly.
* NonElemental: Her Bewear is primary Normal type. In ''Pokemon Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon'' she uses Lopunny as a replacement for Mismagius.
* NotGoodWithRejection:
** It's subtle at times, but the game implies pretty heavily that most of Lusamine's villainy is/was prompted by the disappearance of her husband Mohn and the discovery of Nihilego, followed by both of her children running away from her due to her abuse of them. It becomes most obvious by the end of the Aether Foundation story arc, where, having been abandoned by her entire family, all she wants is to be left alone with the Nihilego in Ultra Space for the rest of her life because they'd become her gold standard for beauty, perfection, and worthiness of receiving her love.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' we see a bit more of this, although it's a bit more subdued. While her children leaving still has an effect, her reaction is not so extreme as to lead to hating her children, she still is deeply enraged by her children opposing and leaving her, and she still uses cryogenic freezing on various Pokémon so they can stay with her always. She gets better though after a humbling encounter with Necrozma, begins the process to restore the frozen Pokémon, allows her children independence, and even allows her amnesiac husband Mohn to choose how and when he meets with her.
* ObliviouslyEvil: In ''Sun and Moon'', it's implied that she's more [[TheMentallyDisturbed insane]] than out and out evil, which only serves to make her more dangerous and terrifying as it makes her nigh impossible to be reasoned with. She's insistent that what she's doing is right and refuses to let anyone tell her otherwise.
* OffingTheOffspring: In Sun and Moon, after losing her rematch against the player and utterly crazed/enraged, she tries to personally kill Lillie, being still fused with Nihilego.
* OlderThanTheyLook: She's over 40 years old - even though by first glance, she looks to be somewhere in her 20s - which is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Hau's dumbfounded reaction upon learning this fact.
* OneBadMother: ''Motherbeast'' definitely qualifies in the original games.
* OneWingedAngel: For the second battle against her, she fuses with Nihilego into a half-human, half-jellyfish beast, and uses Totem power to buff all of her Pokémon.
* OurFairiesAreDifferent: Uses a Clefable, which she always sends out first.
* ParentalNeglect: Lusamine's parenting is very neglectful, often refusing to listen to her children's concerns and simply ignoring them as she believes that she either [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon doesn't care about them, only the Ultra Beasts]], [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon or she's doing what's best for them.]]
* ParentsAsPeople: What she is in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. She's not the best parent, being very controlling, but she is otherwise a very well-meaning person and there is no doubt that she cares for her children unconditionally.
* PeekABangs: Her blonde bangs cover her right eye.
* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:After she is revealed to be a HeroAntagonist, a lot of these moments she has in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' substitute her [[KickTheDog crueler moments]] in the original games. First off, she thanks Lillie for keeping Cosmog safe until now, instead of saying that she'd betrayed her, and then when Cosmog is trying to resist, she takes pity on it instead of being annoyed for making too much noise and commends it for its bravery and love for Lillie.]]
* PoorPredictableRock: Surprisingly enough, her Mismagius is her ''only'' Pokémon that can't be completely shut down through resistances (as it knows Shadow Ball, Power Gem, and Mystical Fire). All of the others have only one or two attacking moves, leaving themselves wide open to being blocked by a 'mon with the right resistances. That said, her team as a whole is diverse enough that you'll likely need a separate Pokémon to deal with each of them if you go this route, and dedicated {{Stone Wall}}s will likely find themselves frustrated by the fact that ''every single one of them'' has some means of healing itself.
** Thrown out the window in ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon''. Every single one of her Pokemon has plenty of coverage moves thanks to the Move Tutor and only Bewear has any real healing option in Drain Punch, but that is really more to make up for the recoil damage of Take Down.
* PowerDyesYourHair: Her hair turns black (albeit a few thin streaks of its original color) after fusing with Nihilego, which itself changes from primarily light blue to black.
* ProperTightsWithASkirt: She wears a short skirt and some stockings. The stockings cover almost all of the leg.
* PsychopathicWomanchild: In ''Sun and Moon.'' She treats her children as if they were dolls, and is prone to throwing tantrums like a bratty teenager when angry.
* RapunzelHair: Lusamine's hair flares out nearly a foot on either side of her and reaches down to her hips.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: [[spoiler:She is more reasonable in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. When Gladion and Lillie start worrying for her safety, she decides to battle the player in order to reassure them that she'll be fine when she goes to stop Necrozma. And after Necrozma's defeat at the hands of the player, she clearly understood what she did wrong and resolves to make it up to her children from a safe distance.]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In ''Sun and Moon'', while Lillie is giving her one, Lusamine even gives one to ''the player character'' themselves. Especially to note that [[VillainHasAPoint she points out that just about everyone replaces the Pokémon in their party once they are no longer serving a use to them]]. Which is ''exactly'' what the player most likely did... Ironically, this is the game which introduced Poké Pelago, meaning that the player knows for a fact that their boxed Pokémon are on what amounts to an island vacation, and is likely visiting them regularly -- this is brought up as a counterargument exactly never.
* ReplacementGoldfish: In ''Sun and Moon'' she became obsessed with bringing Ultra Beasts into the world and joining them in their own world after her husband disappeared, even more so after her children ran away.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The fact that she had Aether develop Type: Full (later Type: Null) specifically for the purpose of fighting and killing Ultra Beasts, implies that she might have originally intended to destroy them for taking her husband, prior to becoming obsessed with them. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she still has this mindset, flat-out saying she hates the Ultra Wormholes and the creatures who dwell within it such as Necrozma.]]
* SanitySlippage: The loss of her husband did a number on her sanity, causing the obsession driving her during both stories' events. However, once she met Nihilego in ''Sun and Moon'' she got a lot worse...
* TheScream: In ''Sun and Moon''. Her only verbal reaction to losing her rematch against the player is to just give a wordless scream. This also being the only noise she makes when "fused" with Nihilego.
* {{Sadist}}: In ''Sun and Moon''. She often smiles happily whenever she emotionally abuses Lillie or Gladion and inflicting ColdBloodedTorture on Cosmog. This changes when you confront her in Ultra Space; where instead of expressing any joy, she's now almost perpetually consumed by rage over what the player and Lillie are doing, with even her PsychoticSmirk unable to hide her underlying rage.
* SheepInSheepsClothing: Downplayed in ''Ultra Sun and Moon''. Although she still retains some of her selfishness and some of her unsavory deeds from the original games, she is every bit as genuine in protecting all Pokémon, just like her company is striving for. This is even lampshaded by Hau.
-->'''Hau:''' Miss Lusamine is out there trying to keep Alola safe, right? I knew she was a good person!\\
'''Gladion:''' I guess... She's always convinced that what she's doing is right and she's really kind of selfish, but... But, I think she really just wanted to find our father, who disappeared into an Ultra Wormhole.
* ShesGotLegs: Nice, slender, ''long'' ones, as the camera and her ProperTightsWithASkirt like to reveal. If her official art and in-game model are to be trusted, her legs are almost twice as long as the rest of her body from the waist up!
* SlasherSmile: In ''Sun and Moon'', she tends to pull them off whenever she's plotting, and one could argue that even her regular smile counts as a subdued example of one. By the time she's been definitively revealed as a villain in ''Sun and Moon'', it's pretty much become her default expression.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' however, [[spoiler:because she isn't as bad in this version, she sports it far less.]]
* TheSociopath: In ''Sun and Moon'', she is this to a disturbing degree, especially considering she's a main villain in the original games, both which are intended for children. Her grasp of concepts like love and social interaction in general are extremely warped, with Lusamine's particular brand of "love" consisting of forcing control on anybody and anything which shows her the slightest bit of affection and whom she deems worthy of receiving her own affections - and reacting violently when they reject her. She's also quite self-absorbed, generally treats others like objects and/or tools to be used until they're run out of purpose for her (reinforced by Gladion's comment that she's "extremely kind as long as you mean absolutely nothing to her").
* StartOfDarkness: The disappearance of her husband Mohn is hinted to have made her into a much colder person.
* StatuesqueStunner: While no official height is given for her, she's clearly taller than average.
* StatusBuff: In the second battle against her, she utilizes her Beast Boost powers she obtained from Nihilego to give her Pokémon enhanced power right off the bat.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Her children also have platinum-blonde and angular hair as well as bright green eyes. Gladion also shares her PeekABangs hairstyle, albeit in a much different fashion than his mother.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: She sports these in her Mother Beast form.
* ToughLove: [[spoiler:Her treatment of her children in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' is suggested to be this. While she may have retained some of her controlling behavior, unlike the original games, there is no doubt that she cares about her children, enough to try and protect them from Necrozma. And when she acknowledges that Gladion and Lillie have grown up a bit since leaving Aether Paradise, she is genuinely happy. Also if you compare her expressions when she disowns Lillie, from ''Sun and Moon'' to ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', you'll see that unlike her enraged scowl in the original games, she has a disappointed and hurt expression in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.'']]
* TragicVillain: Once a caring wife and mother, her futile attempts to reunite with her husband and gradual SanitySlippage due to the Ultra Beasts made her the villain she is in the present. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she takes it upon herself to defeat Necrozma and save Alola, and her insistence on doing this herself only leads to her defeat and Necrozma almost destroying Alola. All for the sake of avenging her husband, Mohn.]]
* TraitorShot: In her first appearance in ''Sun and Moon'', when talking about Ultra Beasts, the camera zooms in on her eyes and her SlasherSmile.
* TranquilFury: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', when she finds out that Faba was the one who sold out the Aether Foundation to Team Rainbow Rocket, her expression is basically just a DeathGlare that contains enough anger to scare Faba into running away.
* {{Troperrific}}: She is competing with [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite N]] for stakes in this.
* TsurimeEyes: While Lusamine's eyes are normally like this, when Hau mentions Lillie in her first appearance and whenever Lusamine switches to her SlasherSmile, her eyes noticeably become even ''more'' slanted. After her final defeat and separation from Nihilego, her eyes look wider and brighter, indicating that her malevolence is gone.
* TheUnfought: In a sense. While you do fight her Pokémon, you don't get to directly fight her Mother Beast form in the original games.
* UselessUsefulSpell: Subverted with Milotic. Lusamine's Pokémon in the final encounter get a totem aura to power up a stat that benefits most of them, but Milotic, a special attacker, has her Attack boosted. It's revealed that she has Flail in her moveset, which ''does'' benefit from the boost.
* VileVillainSaccharineShow: In ''Sun and Moon''. This is a woman who while under the influence of a [[EldritchAbomination Nihilego]], [[AbusiveParents abused her children]] and tried to micromanage every aspect of their lives down to what clothes they should wear, [[IHaveNoSon declared that they weren't her children]] and eventually attempted to ''murder them'' when they tried to rebel against her control, freezes the Pokémon she adores so that they'll stay the same forever while they remain on display for her, is willing to hurt and even kill anybody or anyone to further her schemes, Pokémon or otherwise, and in general cares about absolutely nothing but herself and the things she desires. This is all in contrast with Team Skull's [[LaughablyEvil general ineffectual goofiness]] and Alola's cheerful and bright atmosphere.
* VillainHasAPoint: In ''Sun and Moon''. When Lillie tells her that people and Pokémon aren't hers to just collect, use and discard at her pleasure, Lusamine counters that ''trainers'' (using the player in particular as an example) do that exact thing, namely switching out weaker members of their party for stronger, more appealing Pokémon. While this doesn't excuse her any of her actions in any way, her point isn't refuted.
* VillainousBSOD: Downplayed in ''Sun and Moon''. She partly recovers after her final defeat in ''Sun and Moon'', yet she is still struggling with the remaining Nihilego's neurotoxins in her body.
* VillainousBreakdown: In ''Sun and Moon''. She undergoes a gradual one throughout the last part of the main story of ''Sun and Moon''. After her first defeat, she's annoyed by the player character's interference with her plans, but still appears relatively cool-headed. Compare this to her later appearance in Ultra Space, where she's visibly livid and angrily screaming at the player character and Lillie. This ultimately culminates in her fusing with Nihilego, which leaves her not only unable to speak coherently but also in a much more violent state of mind.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: In ''Sun and Moon''. Lusamine is the president of the Aether Foundation, a well-known organization that heals Pokémon. This helps mask her true colors, as she actually experiments on Pokémon to achieve her goals.
* WalkingSpoiler: It's nearly impossible to talk about her without spoiling that she's the villain of ''Sun and Moon'' or her changed role and true personality in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''.
* WeaponOfChoice: Bewear, very fittingly. They both seem cute and innocent, but are actually incredibly dangerous and give people unwanted love that hurts them.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she is willing to do anything to save the people and Pokémon she loves from Necrozma, even if it meant sacrificing Cosmog.]]
-->'''Lusamine:''' [[spoiler:I will force Cosmog to use its power and it may very well die. But if it will save the world for all my beloved Pokemon, then that is what I will do.]]
* WhenSheSmiles: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she sports this during her PetTheDog moments after she is revealed to be a HeroAntagonist, and it's oddly quite touching to see. Because she is not as bad this time, this is basically her default expression. This is in stark contrast to the original games where she sports a SlasherSmile during her KickTheDog moments.]]
* WindowsOfTheSoul: One of the earliest hints she's a villain in ''Sun and Moon'' for those paying attention to the art style are her eyes. Most everyone else has noticeable white highlights in their eyes. Lusamine's by contrast are flat, dull, and effectively lifeless looking from the moment she's introduced, giving her a creepy UncannyValley effect.
* WomanInWhite: Her top and skirt is mostly white with some gold to establish that LightIsNotGood. She also wears white stockings on her feet.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: In ''Sun and Moon''. It's stated that Lusamine's obsession with the Ultra Beasts stemmed from grief over the disappearance of her husband Mohn in an Ultra Wormhole, and that at least at first she was looking for a way to get him back, and possibly seek vengeance upon the Ultra Beasts using Type: Null. Lillie reminisces that her mother was fun-loving and kind to her before that incident, after which her obsession with finding Mohn and the discovery of Nihilego is implied to have twisted her into a gradually worsening sociopath, which eventually resulted in Gladion fleeing from her, later followed by Lillie herself. Ultimately, all Lusamine wanted was to have the love of her life back, but in her psychosis forgot how to care for her children and played with forces she didn't understand, and as a result both she and her family suffered the consequences that she was too obsessed to even consider in the first place.
* WouldHurtAChild: Makes an ambiguous murder threat to the player character at the start of their first battle in ''Sun and Moon'', an ''unambiguous'' murder threat at the start of their second battle, and then attempts to ''kill her daughter Lillie'' afterwards. [[spoiler:Averted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, when she states that even when Lillie and Gladion betrayed and left her, she will still save them along with all the Pokémon in existence, as it is her duty as President of the Aether Foundation, even if it she has to sacrifice Cosmog.]]
* {{Yandere}}: She really, really ''really'' loves the Ultra Beasts. So much so she would literally ''destroy the world'' if it meant being able to be with them. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', this trope is ''completely'' averted.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Wicke]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wicke_9.png]]
The assistant branch chief of Aether Paradise has a caring personality, so she’s loved by all the Aether Foundation employees.
----
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Wicke cares about the well-being of the Foundation's Pokémon; because of this, she is popular among the Foundation's staff.
* IronicName: Her name is one letter away from the word "wicked". [[TokenGoodTeammate She is one of the few non-antagonistic members of the Aether Foundation, supports both Lillie and Gladion in opposition to their insane mother in Sun and Moon, and even heals your team when you storm Aether Paradise.]]
* {{Meganekko}}: Wicke's glasses only add to her charm.
* TheMole: You learn in the ''Sun and Moon'' post-game that she's now working for Interpol, and provides them with information on the Ultra Beasts.
* MsExposition: Her role for the remainder of ''Sun and Moon'' after the completion of the postgame is showing you info on the Ultra Beasts.
* NiceGirl: In the initial trailer that revealed the Aether Foundation, both Wicke and Lusamine were built up to be sweet and motherly characters. In the game proper, Wicke actually ''is'' as nice as the trailer made her out to be, in stark contrast to ''Sun and Moon's'' version of Lusamine.
* NeutralFemale: She neither directly opposes nor particularly assists the player's efforts at rescuing Lillie and Cosmog, though she ''does'' heal their Pokémon after they return to the Paradise's main floor for the second time.
* NonIndicativeName: Her name's Wicke, but she's not really wicked.
* OnlySaneWoman: Wicke is one of the few employees who remains nice and helpful throughout.
* ParentalSubstitute: Implied to have been a mother figure to Gladion and Lillie after Lusamine turned cold towards them.
* SheepInSheepsClothing: Wicke really is as nice as she appears to be, unlike Faba and ''Sun and Moon's'' version of Lusamine.
* SweaterGirl: She probably has a sufficient reason to wear a thick turtleneck sweater in the Alola region, but the pink sweater is the most vibrant part of her design.
* TokenGoodTeammate: She is the one who helped Lillie escape the Aether Foundation from the beginning. Also, during the protagonist's investigation of the Aether Foundation to save Lillie, Wicke is one of the few members who doesn't battle you. In fact, she even heals your team at one point. This is even further suggested in an official release poster for ''Ultra Sun and Moon'' which shows a VFormationTeamShot consisting of Guzma, Sophocles, the Player Character, and Wicke facing off against Team Rainbow Rocket.
* TheUnfought: The only named member of the Aether Foundation to not be fought, even though in ''Ultra Sun and Moon'' she mentions that she went on a journey in Kanto when she was younger, meaning that at least at one point she was a trainer.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Heavily implied to be malasadas. In both games, she gives the player character and Hau some Big Malasadas at various points. Taken further in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where she gives them away much more frequently, mentions malasadas when you talk to her in the postgame, and is even seen holding a basket of them in a [[https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/6e/Ultra_Sun_Ultra_Moon_Team_Rainbow_Rocket.png piece of promotional art]] for Episode RR.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Faba (Sauboh)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/faba_9.png]]
The Aether Foundation's branch chief. He has a very arrogant personality, and believes himself to be far more important than he actually is.
----
* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler:He was a HateSink to begin with, but in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', he sells out the entire Aether Foundation to Team Rainbow Rocket, letting them take over so they can expand the company across ''entire dimensions'' with himself on top.]]
* BeardOfEvil: He sports a goatee, and has a habit of stroking it.
* BigWhat: When Hau points out the flaw in his plan to stop the group.
* BonusBoss: [[spoiler:Aside from being fightable at Aether Paradise in the post-game, he's also one of the potential challengers to the player's title of Champion... only in the original ''Sun and Moon'', however. His status as BonusBoss is AdaptedOut for Lusamine in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'']].
* ChildHater: After being defeated by the player character, he remarks how he dislikes children. Despite his later change of heart, he still seems to be this to an extent later on; when speaking to Faba in the post-game discussing whether he would make a better acting President of the Aether Foundation than Gladion and answering that Gladion would do a better job, he nearly goes on a tirade before stopping himself.
* CoolShades: The large, green sunglasses he wears are his trademark accessory, and are designed to resemble fava beans.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Hamminess, massive ego, and the below VillainBall moment aside, he's a competent enough Pokémon battler to [[spoiler:defeat Alola's Elite Four and challenge you for the title of Champion.]]
* DirtyCoward: Prides himself as the Aether Foundation's last line of defense in his debut yet refuses to fight a Skull Grunt to save a Slowpoke, questioning what they'd be able to do if he was incapacitated and gets the player to fight the grunt instead.
* DishingOutDirt: In ''Pokemon Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon'' his Slowbro is replaced by Claydol.
* EpicFail: His attempt to cover his tracks in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' in spades.
* EvilGenius: He oversaw the various projects regarding the Ultra Wormholes and is the lead researcher in the Foundation.
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:PlayedForLaughs. Rather than be arrested for his villainous actions, he is kept on at Aether Paradise... but is demoted to ''intern'' position, which absolutely horrifies and depresses him.]]
* HateSink: He's a selfish, greedy coward who only cares about standing on top of the company, and even being "reformed" along with the company doesn't help his case. [[spoiler:Even more so in his ''Ultra'' appearances, where he sells out his own company for his own advancement.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: Turns over a new leaf post-game. Or so he claims, him trying to become Aether President and nearly falling back into his ChildHater tendencies in the post-game also implies that he just wants to save his own ass. [[spoiler:Subverted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where he betrays the Aether Foundation in the post-game when a better offer shows up, showing that he only cares about his own advancement.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', Faba badmouthing Gladion is changed to him thinking that he would be a better president than Lusamine, calling her out for being an egotist. While Lusamine does still have issues with putting herself before other people, she's overall much better about it in these games than she was in ''Sun and Moon'' while Faba became even more of a selfish jerk.
* {{Irony}}:
** He claims to dislike children, yet his strongest Pokémon is a Hypno, a species that is notorious for preying on children's dreams.
** In the post-game, he gives the player a Dubious Disc during a conversation about him having turned over a new leaf.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He cares for himself and the advancement of his own career above anything and anyone else.
* {{Jerkass}}: He has a high opinion of himself and acts very condescending towards Wicke and the player character.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Actively cultivates his position as Branch Chief throughout the game, usually defying to engage in most of the other roles he needs to do through ego or incompetence, and is on Lusamine's side with her ambitions. As a result, he is demoted when the Aether Foundation is restructured following her defeat. In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:his demotion happens when he sells the entire foundation--Lusamine included--out to Team Rainbow Rocket explicitly to advance his own career, making his fate all the more poetically just.]]
* MakingASplash: His Slowbro and Bruxish. In the remakes, this redundancy is answered by replacing Slowbro (who never used a Water-type move in any of the battles it is used in, anyways) with Claydol.
* MeaningfulName: Named after fava beans, which are what his glasses are meant to resemble.
* NumberTwo: To Lusamine in the Aether Foundation. [[spoiler:Subverted after the post-game of ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where he is reduced to a intern.]]
* PsychicPowers: Specializes in Psychic-type Pokémon. He seems to avert the tendency for Psychic-type Pokemon users to be psychic themselves.
* TheQuisling: Being the DirtyCoward that he is, Faba jumps ship and joins with Team Rainbow Rocket.
* RedemptionDemotion: During the post-game, Faba gets demoted down to a rank-and-file member, but also promises that he's had a change of heart.
* ReformedButNotTamed: While he claims to have reformed following his demotion, he's still kind of a jerk.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He gets very annoyed when not given "proper respect", first shown with him getting upset with Wicke over her calling him "Mr. Faba", to which he points out he has a title for a reason.
* SmugSnake: He prides himself as a genius and a very important person, yet his plans to distract the heroes were very easily foiled. Driving this point further is the fact that [[{{Keet}} Hau]] of all people was the one to point this out.
* TheStarscream: [[spoiler:He sells out the Aether Foundation to Team Rainbow Rocket in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' just to aid his own career.]]
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: [[spoiler:After Giovanni's defeat at the end of ''Ultra Sun'' and ''Ultra Moon''[='s=] Episode RR, he tells Lusamine he "would never do such a thing as betray the foundation and invite Team Rainbow Rocket in, just to advance [his] career" after she regains consciousness and his lie falls flat with her in addition to Lillie, Guzma, and the protagonist. This ends up with him being demoted from branch chief to intern, after which he's shown doing manual labor for other employees.]]
* TokenEvilTeammate: Even if Aether Foundation was the main antagonist team in ''Sun and Moon'', Faba is the most-selfish one you'd ever met. But especially in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where Aether Foundation isn't evil, just misguided, he's this trope played straight.
* VillainBall:
** During the protagonists' second visit to the Aether Foundation in ''Sun and Moon'', Hau asks if Faba has a key to a locked door, to which he replies yes. Hau then points out that if he had just stayed hidden, said protagonists would then be stuck and probably unable to stop said evil plans.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', he instead tells the protagonists that Lusamine's at her mansion, during the point where they had no idea where she was.
* WeaponOfChoice: Hypno is his strongest and/or final Pokémon in every battle with him.
[[/folder]]
----
An organization dedicated to protecting hurt Pokémon, especially those who have been abused by Team Skull, on their own private island. However, there's more to them than it seems, which turns out to be them secretly having been in league with Team Skull the whole time, as their financial backer.
'''''WARNING: Major spoilers for VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon and VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon follow. Read at your own risk.'''''
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Tropes that apply to the whole group]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aether_foundation_employees.png]]
* AmbiguouslyBrown: The employees have a much darker skin color than most other villainous team grunts.
* AntiHeroTeam: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' the Aether Foundation genuinely wants to help Pokémon and protect the Alola region but will use unsavory methods to do so.]]
* CardCarryingVillain: Mostly subverted but one employee mentions that he's "embraced the darkness in his heart". [[spoiler:This same employee is implied to be the one that defects to Team Rainbow Rocket with Faba in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''.]]
* DeathGlare: The female employees sport these when battling the player during the Aether Foundation infiltration.
* EliteMooks: Aether Employees' choice of Pokémon make them a cut above the average evil team's grunts.
* ExhaustedEyeBags: The female employees sport these when battling the player during the Aether Foundation infiltration.
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:One employee defects to Team Rainbow Rocket alongside Faba]] in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: By means of a CallBack. Their uniforms (particularly their caps) resemble pallet swapped versions of Team Rocket's. This gives you an early hint that they're EvilAllAlong in ''Sun and Moon''. This trope is downplayed in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' as they are genuinely good, if on the WellIntentionedExtremist side of things.
* HeelFaceTurn: During the post-game of ''Sun and Moon'', after Lusamine's Ultra Beast obsession and affliction with Nihilego's neurotoxins has been dealt with, the protagonist can visit the Aether Foundation again. The Foundation is still around, but is now attempting to save and conserve Pokémon for real, with Gladion as their president. Further enforced by the animation set used by Aether Foundation employees in the Battle Tree being much friendlier than those used during the infiltration of Aether Paradise. [[spoiler:Similarly in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' once Lusamine fails in protecting Alola, she admits she was wrong to take Nebby, and the Aether Foundation goes on to trust in the protagonist to stop Necrozma.]]
* HelpfulMook: In Aether Paradise, one employee would man Gladion's boat for you should you ever need to return to the mainland, and another in the main entrance will heal your team. Averted with one mook in another room; who says that even if he loses, he won't tell you anything.
* JustFollowingOrders: The reason why you had to battle them when trying to look for Lillie was that they suddenly were put on high-alert and were ordered to stop intruders in general.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Have a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSVDUe2ymZY&index=64&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H laid-back and futuristic theme]] that plays throughout their paradise. There is also a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeEy-JlTZxY&index=74&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H violin version]] that plays in the standalone labs found throughout the region. It later receives a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4bMzkn4g2o&index=65&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H serene-yet-unsettling remix]] mixed with Lusamine's leitmotif in her encounter theme, a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf3fvqmKB1M&index=82&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H mysterious and villainous]] mix after their antagonistic side is exposed, a much more [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcSiaBnXdUs&index=87&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H threatening and cinematic mix]] in the Employee battle theme, and finally a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHoIWAuDilA&index=83&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H flat-out disturbing mix]] played in their secret basement.
* LightIsGood: Mostly in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' and after their HeelFaceTurn in the post-game of ''Sun and Moon''.
* LightIsNotGood: In contrast to the [[DarkIsEvil mainly-black Team Skull]], their main colours include white and gold, and they're just as much villains as the former in ''Sun and Moon''. However, they become good in the post-game after Lusamine's Ultra Beast obsession has been dealt with.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: A few employees were kept in the dark on the true intentions of the higher ups of the Foundation, and some of them even end up genuinely aiding the player and their friends along the way. Some of them make it clear that they are antagonizing the player for the sake of it, however.
* NoNameGiven: Played with. As soon as they're no longer considered villains, even generic members of the Aether Foundation trainer class are allowed to have real names. However, the named generic employees are only battled in the Battle Tree.
* ObviouslyEvil: Subverted. After the intro where Aether employees were chasing Lillie with [[SlasherSmile Slasher Smiles]], was anybody really buying that they were a benevolent company, on a mission to help all Pokémon? However, it is implied that the majority of employees don't even know what's going on and are hostile only due to you being an intruder. In the post-game, once Lusamine's obsession with the Ultra Beasts and affliction with Nihilego's neurotoxins has been dealt with, the Aether Foundation really ''does'' become a benevolent company that helps Pokémon. This trope is also subverted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:as they are a benevolent company that helps Pokémon but kidnap Nebby in an effort to stop Necrozma from stealing Alola's light.]]
* PoorPredictableRock: Averted. Aether Employees aren't restricted to typical grunt Pokémon. Expect to see lots of types and strategies to boot.
* PunchClockVillain: With the exception of ''Sun and Moon's'' version of [[TheSociopath Lusamine]] and [[SmugSnake Faba]], most of the employees are really just doing their job and protecting their research from intruders (i.e. you). [[spoiler:Subverted with at least one employee in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', who joins Team Rainbow Rocket and aids Faba in a multi battle]].
* RuleOfCool: An employee expresses how she joined the team because she thought that the uniforms were cool, then [[RealityEnsues she laments how much work it is to look after Pokémon]].
* SlasherSmile: The male employees sport these when battling the player during the Aether Foundation infiltration. The ones that chase Lillie in the intro have them as well.
* UnwittingPawn: Most of the lower ranking members have no idea about the ''Sun and Moon's'' version of Lusamine's plans and only attack the player because they were told they were trying to steal Pokémon.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Whenever you see them on the second and third islands, they're celebrated by the populace, and work closely with trusted authorities. Because the protagonists took them down by storming their secluded headquarters before they can kickstart their leader's plan, most Alolan citizens are LockedOutOfTheLoop regarding their true intentions, though some important [=NPCs=] are hinted to know this but keep it secret for some reason. It helps that they undergo a HeelFaceTurn after Lusamine is taken down. This trope is subverted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where they're genuinely good as a whole, if misguided.
* WealthyPhilanthropist: According to a scientist at Aether Paradise, Lusamine's father was an immensely wealthy man who started the Aether Foundation because of his love for Pokémon.
* WouldHurtAChild: One employee implies that they're going to murder Hau, Gladion, and the Player after they go to the secret labs.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Lusamine]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lusamine_sm.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Click [[labelnote:here]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/motherbeast_lusamine.png[[/labelnote]] to see her fused form with Nihilego]]
--> ''"I still need that Pokémon. I need to get it back. [...] It looked like it was suffering... Like it pained it to be in this strange place... I can't bear to see that happen! I will save it. [[TraitorShot And I will love it]]!"'' - From VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon
--> ''"[[WellIntentionedExtremist I will force Cosmog to use it's power and it may very well die. But if it will save the world for all my beloved Pokémon, then that is what I will do.]] Lillie. I will be using the Cosmog you stole for a great purpose. [[PetTheDog You have kept it safe until now, and for that... I thank you.]]"'' - From VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon
The lovely Lusamine functions as the Aether Foundation’s president, though as it turns out, she's not as lovely as she seems.
----
* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Subverted. She appears to be pretty young but is actually over 40.
* AbusiveParents: Discards her daughter Lillie, declaring her to be worthless, and was prepared to kill her during their confrontation in Ultra Space. She tightly controlled every aspect of her children's lives, right down to what clothes they could wear, as both Gladion and Lillie attest. Lillie later tells Gladion that, as bad as she was when they both lived with her, she got ''worse'' after he fled with Type: Null.
** [[spoiler:This behavior seems to be a result of Nihilego's neurotoxins as this trope is heavily downplayed in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. While she does keep some of her controlling tendencies and temporary disownment of her children, she isn't as abusive to them, just more of a case of being a tough parent struggling with her grief for losing her husband. Not to mention, some of her crueler dialogue is replaced with kinder dialogue.]]
* ActionMom: She is easily one of the strongest characters in the game, and could easily put Gladion or Lillie back in their place.
* AdaptationalHeroism: [[spoiler:In the original games, she is a crazed, abusive mother and BitchInSheepsClothing who is willing to callously off anyone in order to live out her obsession with Ultra Beasts, specifically Nihilego who causes this behavior with its neurotoxin, before suddenly having a HeelFaceTurn offscreen. In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' she is a [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-meaning]], decent if flawed ReasonableAuthorityFigure and AntiHero who is willing to do anything to save the people and Pokémon she loves from what Necrozma plans to do with Alola's light, as well as [[ParentsAsPeople genuinely caring for her children despite not being the best parent as well as being mad at them for stealing the Pokémon needed to stop Necrozma]], and finally seeing the error of her ways and changing them for the better.]]
* AdaptedOut: [[spoiler:Her Mismagius from the originals was switched out for a Lopunny in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. Due to her obsession with Nihilego and being inflicted with its neurotoxin no longer being present in these games, she never fuses with one and thus her Motherbeast form also does not appear]].
* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', her friendliness is shown here to be rather genuine, unlike the original games. First, she thanks Lillie for keeping Cosmog safe until it was captured. Then she takes a moment to show pity for Cosmog's pain, and acknowledges its love for Lillie. After she was defeated in Aether Paradise, instead of ranting like a bratty teenager like in the original games, she becomes impressed with the player character's strength in battle and compliments him/her. Finally, she feels genuinely touched by Gladion's concern for her, and takes a moment to reassure him that she'll be fine when she goes to stop Necrozma.]]
* AlmightyMom: No matter how much Lillie and Gladion try to stop her, she proves to be one step ahead. If it wasn't for you, she would've gotten what she wanted, (having Cosmog open up a wormhole so that she could unleash the Ultra Beasts, and also stay in Ultra Space) even after Gladion ran away with Type: Null, which was itself created to defeat those very same Ultra Beasts. And in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, [[spoiler:despite being mad at her children, she is willing to save them from Necrozma, along with all the Pokémon in existence.]]
* AmazonBrigade: Her Pokémon team is all-female with a [[CuteBruiser cute]] or beautiful theme. They are also one of the toughest fights in the game, with great natures, individual values, effort values, and Totem Boosts on top of that in their second battle.
* AntiHero: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:she is motivated by a desire to save the world and all the people and Pokémon she loves from Necrozma, as well as the desire to avenge the loss of her husband, rather than out of totally insane selfishness. That said, she still goes through with nearly killing Nebby to open the Ultra Wormhole.]]
* ArchnemesisDad: GenderFlipped: she's this for Gladion and Lillie, especially for the latter in the original games. The player and Hau are mostly just along for the ride in the main storyline, with Lusamine's children being the primary force when it comes to taking her down.
* AsleepForDays: In ''Sun and Moon.'' After being released from Nihilego, Lusamine falls into a coma. However, Lillie tells you after you beat the Pokémon League and during the celebration that Lusamine had recovered from her comatose state and even tried to come to the celebration as well.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: She is the president of the Aether Foundation and is one of the most difficult fights of the series.
* AxCrazy: In ''Sun and Moon.'' Be it innocent bystanders or her own children, she doesn't care who she has to hurt to get what she wants. To put things into perspective, even Guzma, the guy who calls himself "destruction in human form", thinks she's too far gone to be reasoned with, though this is admittedly after her mental state has gotten a lot worse from being inflicted with Nihilego's neurotoxins.
* BadassAdorable: Her team is full of them. Her team theme is cute or beautiful Pokémon[[note]]Clefable, Mismagius, Milotic, Lilligant, Bewear, and Lopunny[[/note]], and all five of them have perfect individual values ''and'' ideal natures and effort values, meaning that each of them is likely to be able to crush a casual player's Pokémon in a one-on-one fight unless they're facing a type or level disadvantage.
* BadassInCharge: Head of the Aether Foundation and their strongest trainer.
* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler:The Team Rainbow Rocket subplot in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' centers around Lusamine being held hostage while the evil team takes over Aether Paradise, all so Giovanni can use the Ultra Beasts' power to brainwash her into becoming his pawn and lending all of Aether's technology and knowledge of the Ultra Wormholes.]]
* BadBoss: In ''Sun and Moon''. Faba and Guzma are shown to be scared by her and think she's gone off the deep end. She also uses both of them as pawns and seemingly has no care about them.
* BearsAreBadNews: She has a Bewear, which are infamous for killing people by accident.
* BeautyIsBad: In ''Sun and Moon''.A deceptively beautiful woman secretly plotting to go to Ultra Space even if it means unleashing Ultra Beasts on Alola.
* BenevolentBoss: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she treats her employees far better than her original counterpart, even if she is not without flaws. She even treats Guzma more respectfully and makes good on her statement on how strong Guzma is by treating him more like a partner than a pawn.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:she is a very decent and well-meaning if flawed person. But she is a force to be reckoned with as well. Harming the people (including her children) and Pokemon she loves and the Aether Foundation is a '''''very''''' good way to get on her bad side. Just ask Faba and Necrozma.]]
* BigBad: Ultimately of ''Sun and Moon''. She's also the first female example in the series.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Appears to be a kind and helpful woman when she is introduced, but she is anything ''but'' that. [[spoiler:Averted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, when her kind and helpful nature is revealed to be genuine this time, as she is only harsh to Lillie and Gladion for stealing Cosmog and Type: Null, respectively, since they were both needed for more heroic purposes this time, and she only disowns them out of feelings of genuine betrayal and hurt disappointment. Her earlier behavior in ''Sun and Moon'' is implied to be a result of Nihilego's neurotoxins]]
* BonusBoss: [[spoiler:Exclusively in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she is one of two additional challengers in the Title Defense match.]]
* BossOnlyLevel: She is the only enemy in the small area of Ultra Space that you get to visit courtesy of Solgaleo/Lunala. There aren't even any random encounters. [[spoiler:But in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, that part of Ultra Space is called the Ultra Deep Sea, when Nihilego can be caught there many times, even Shiny ones!]]
* BossRemix: Her battle theme is a remix of her normal theme.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: In ''Sun and Moon''. She is unhealthily obsessed with [[EldritchAbomination Nihilego]] and the other Ultra Beasts. Considering that Nihilego is based on a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myxobolus_cerebralis Myxozoa]], which brainwashes the fish it infects, her obsession and insanity might stem from mind-control.
* BrokenBird: Once a paragon and a loving mother, Lusamine underwent a tragedy - namely [[spoiler:the loss of her husband and the father of her children to an Ultra Wormhole]] - that changed her personality for the worse, turning her into a controlling mother. Even in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where she's less abusive and doesn't descend into insanity, Lusamine is motivated to defeat Necrozma not out of altruism, but rather [[spoiler:to protect the ones she loves and for her own self-satisfaction, believing it will help her overcome the helplessness she felt when she lost Mohn.]]
* BrutalHonesty: Those comparisons between her and the player in ''Sun and Moon'' run really deep...
* CatchPhrase: "How annoying."
* ClimaxBoss: In ''Sun and Moon''. While not the FinalBoss, the battle with Motherbeast Lusamine concludes the game's primary storyline, with only the Pokémon League left afterwards. Fittingly, the fight is one of the most difficult in the game.
* CombatStilettos: She wears heels throughout most of the game and is an extremely proficient Pokémon battler. Her intro animation for her first fight and [[spoiler:Title Defense battle]] starts with a strong clack of her right heel.
* ConfusionFu: In ''Ultra Sun And Moon'', her Lopunny knows Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, ''and'' Dizzy Punch.
* ControlFreak: She was very controlling of her two children, down to choosing exactly they were allowed to wear. Before the reveal, she briefly tries the same on Hau, a small boy she'd never even met before.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist:
** Lusamine compares and contrasts with the BigBad of [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY the prior game]], Lysandre, in quite a few ways. Both of them are wealthy philanthropists who are introduced to the player long before their official reveal as villains, but Lysandre is a DevilInPlainSight whereas Lusamine's a BitchInSheepsClothing while under the influence of Nihilego. Lysandre directly leads his game's main villainous team while Lusamine serves as a MysteriousBacker to hers. The methods and motives of the two are parallel but also differ in some important ways: both want to destroy the world after spending years trying to better it, but Lysandre is convinced that mankind as a whole can't be saved because it's fundamentally flawed, while Lusamine rejected humanity because she can't comprehend why a select few - her family - never showed her what she believed to be love. Both of them are also very fixated on the concept of beauty, and have a significant but antagonistic relationship with the player's closest ally (Professor Sycamore for Lysandre, Lillie for Lusamine). Admittedly Lusamine's goals can be seen as more a rejection of the world and wanting to leave it behind rather than any desire to destroy it, indeed the only explicit destruction she mentions is being okay with the Ultra Beasts wrecking the islands if it makes them happy. Otherwise she is content to just stay in another dimension, unlike Lysandre who decided the world should change for him. While in [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunandMoon the retelling,]] Lusamine instead seeks to use Nebby to save Alola.
** She is also one to the BigBad of [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite the game even further back]], Ghetsis. Both of them lead a team who claim to look after the common welfare of Pokemon but while Team Plasma's true agenda is absolutely ruthless and self-serving, the Aether Foundation genuinely wanted to help Pokemon before Lusamine got involved with Nihilego and in the retelling is instead trying to save Alola. Both are also AbusiveParents. (Lusamine in the original game) However, while Team Plasma's ruse was paper-thin and it was clear that Team Plasma couldn't be trusted since they blatantly steal Pokemon from trainers to "free" them. The Aether Foundation does a ''much'' better job of hiding its shadowy intentions, using far more professional strategies and having far more resources to carry out their plans. While the Aether Foundation stayed whole in both the original game and it's retelling/remake, Team Plasma split, due to half following Ghetsis and half actually wanting to help Pokemon with their king, N. While Ghetsis was driven only by love for himself while harboring callous apathy or even outright contempt for others, Lusamine is driven by a self-serving insanity that she mistakenly believes is pure love and a desire to give love and affection to others she deems worthy of receiving it, induced by Nihilego. Both Ghetsis and Lusamine became physically ill by the end of their story arc, but while Ghetsis remained irredeemable to the last, Lusamine seeks to make amends, according to Lillie and is a much better person in ''Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon''.
** In ''Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon'' [[spoiler:she contrasts N. Both are the most altruistic villains in Pokémon and believe their actions will be for the benefit of Pokémon. However, N wanted to use a Legendary Pokémon to separate people and Pokémon in an incorrect view that they are better of that way and thought of himself as a hero when his actions were detrimental to both humans and Pokémon. Lusamine is trying to stop a dangerous Legendary Pokémon from destroying Alola and if she succeeded, she actually would have been a hero... but her methods would've likely alienated her from her children forever.]]
** On a more meta level, she's also the ''Pokémon'' series' [[TheSmurfettePrinciple very first female]] BigBad.
* CollectorOfTheStrange: Nothing gets stranger and more morbid than having dozens of '''cryogenically frozen Pokémon''' on display.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: She's the head of the Aether Foundation company and the main villain in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon''.
* CuteAndPsycho: In the final battle in Sun and Moon, her BadassAdorable Pokémon team get a little... demented.
* DarkActionGirl: The "Dark" part isn't obvious until later, but she's nonetheless a very competent opponent in battle.
* DeathGlare: In the final battle of ''Sun and Moon'', all of her 'mons except Bewear have these expressions when given a Totem aura.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Some of her actions (And even her motivations) actually make her somewhat like a ''player'' of the Pokémon games. [[YouBastard And it's played for horror.]]
** Lusamine loves Pokémon, especially ones that are needy or suffering, and wants all of them... which is a common goal in the franchise.
** Lusamine has a huge collection of Pokémon in cryogenic stasis. Hau, Lillie, and the player character are horrified at seeing this. How many players have a huge collection of Pokémon in PC Stasis, ''just'' like her? When Lillie calls her out on treating Pokémon and people as merely things to use and discard as she pleases, Lusamine responds by asking what makes her so different from the player character putting Pokémon they no longer need inside a Box. However, this comparison rings a bit hollow in these games, where Poké Pelago provides boxed Pokemon with a place to frolic. Obviously, Lusamine doesn't know about it, otherwise she'd know where her husband is -- but the player character surely does, and never thinks to mention it.
** A brand new unknown Pokémon appears. What does Lusamine want with it? Why... she wants it herself. Which most players ''wanted'' with the Ultra Beasts anyway.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' [[spoiler:she is trying to stop the latest Legendary Pokémon that is going out of control and threatening to destroy the region, just like players of past generations. However, she is oblivious to the fact her actions have the potential to harm others and she herself is unable to stop Necrozma. Her motives for stopping Necrozma are also implied to be more about avenging the loss of her husband rather than about saving Alola.]]
* DragonInChief: In ''Sun and Moon''. Nihilego is not considered sentient as it doesn't seem to have actual malice and is motivated on self-preservation. Lusamine is the one with the plan.
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: In ''Sun and Moon''. Her apparent "fusion" with the Nihilego she captured leaves her somehow an even more wrecked individual than before; that is, until she's knocked out of her senses by Solgaleo/Lunala and the Nihilego is off her. Information given about Nihilego in the post-game implies that this is basically what its neurotoxins always do to a host that it latches onto, and that Lusamine's repeated exposure to said toxin left her in a lingering case of sociopathic madness.
* DyingAsYourself: Downplayed in ''Sun and Moon''. While she doesn't actually die, she apparently returns to her former self before losing consciousness and entering a temporary coma.
* EasilyForgiven: Despite all she's done in ''Sun and Moon'', including trying to ''murder'' her children, once she's defeated and recovers from her coma Lillie says she wanted to attend the player being crowned Champion if she weren't too weak to go, implying they would have let her attend. Lillie is also comfortable letting her rebuild their relationship.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', it's more [[JustifiedTrope justified]], as Lusamine is not as villainous as she was in the original games. Because Lusamine is motivated by the desire to avenge the loss of her husband, Lillie makes it clear that while she didn't approve of her mother's methods, she understood that they were motivated by the desire to avenge her father. As such when Lusamine apologizes to her for what she did, it's obvious that Lillie had already forgiven her.
* EasterEgg: Two of her Pokémon, Lilligant and Clefable, had evolved through -- you guessed it -- a Sun and Moon Stone, respectively.
* EvilMatriarch: She's Lillie and Gladion's mother and the first female main antagonist in the main Pokémon games. [[spoiler:Subverted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, when she's revealed to have a kind and helpful nature this time, as she needs Cosmog to help protect Alola's Pokémon.]]
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Her fused form has eye-like patterns across her tentacles, with what seems to be Z-Crystals acting as their pupils.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: In ''Sun and Moon''. In contrast to most other ObviouslyEvil team leaders, she looks perfectly innocent and helpful (even resembling Gen [=IV=] BigGood Champion Cynthia to some degree), but is one of the most psychotic characters in the series.
* FallenHeroine: She used to be good before she lost her husband in the Ultra Wormhole, which caused her to take a much darker path. Assuming he was dead.
* FauxAffablyEvil: In ''Sun and Moon''. Like Ghetsis, in the Japanese version, she continues to speak in an overly polite manner even after she drops her charade.
* FeetFirstIntroduction: In both the English and Japanese trailers, though it's more apparent in the Japanese one. Zig-zagged in-game, as while you see her model first, the cutscene that plays when meeting her starts on her feet before panning up the rest of her body. Her battle animation is also introduced in this manner, probably as a deliberate CallBack to the above.
* FingerlessHands: After fusing with Nihilego, her shoes disappear, revealing her now toeless feet (though it's possible they're covered in some sort of substance or membrane).
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In ''Sun and Moon''. She is visibly annoyed when Hau mentions Lillie, and has a sinister grin when everyone else is freaking out over Nihilego's first appearance.
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: In ''Sun and Moon''. In her pre-battle animation as Motherbeast Lusamine, she throws her Ultra Ball and flies right towards the camera while pulling off a NightmareFace.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: How she presents herself in ''Sun and Moon'', and allegedly had been before she went insane. As of the present, she's anything ''but''.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' [[spoiler:however, this is a genuine aspect of her personality. She makes it clear that she will do anything to protect the Pokemon she loves from what Necrozma plans to do with Alola's light.]]
* FusionDance: Performs this with her Nihilego before the final boss battle in ''Sun and Moon''. This also gives all her Pokémon Totem Boosts. In reality though, this is very well likely how Nihilego further parasitizes on its host, and she ends up with a nice heaping load of neurotoxin in her system.
* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: She uses a Bewear.
* GirlyBruiser: All of her Pokémon are feminine in design and are among the toughest the player has to fight in the story.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Ultimately subverted. She secretly serves as this to Guzma in the first half of the game, because while she doesn't directly get involved in Team Skull's schemes, she ''is'' their secret financial backer. Later on, she takes Guzma's place as the BigBad of the game, thus becoming much more involved in the plot as the true main antagonist of ''Sun And Moon''.
* GracefulLoser: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', defeating her at Title Defense has her take her loss ''much'' better than previous battles, even as far as finding it ''interesting''.
* GreenThumb: Uses a Lilligant.
* GoodParents: [[AbusiveParents While not so much in the main story]], Lillie states that Lusamine was a kind, loving mother before she changed. In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[CharacterDevelopment you can see this side of her later in the story.]]
* HalfHumanHybrid: In ''Sun and Moon''. She fuses with Nihilego to create this.
* HeelFaceTurn:
** She comforts Lillie and finally recognizes her as being beautiful even when not dressed to resemble Nihilego, before falling into a coma. Lillie reveals at the end of the game that Lusamine regained consciousness and is starting to rebuild her relationship with her daughter, also wanting to see you at your coronation as Champion.
** [[spoiler:She has a much more detailed one in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', coming to full terms with her faults and feeling remorse for them, now being determined to do her best to make it up to her children - from a safe distance, as she doesn't want to control their lives anymore. She also occasionally battles you in as a Champion challenger, being gracious and complimentary to you when she does.]]
* TheHeavy: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''--her actions still cause much of the conflict, but her previous BigBad status is now taken by Necrozma and later [[spoiler:Giovanni]].
* HeavySleeper: In ''Sun and Moon''. According to Wicke in the ''Sun and Moon'' post-game, the Nihilego's neurotoxins still in Lusamine's body are causing her to have issues with waking up[[note]]Wicke specifically says "the President is having issues rousing herself"[[/note]], implying that the neurotoxins side-effects include something akin to narcolepsy.
* HorrifyingTheHorror: She absolutely adores Ultra Beasts, so when she tells someone "Run away... that thing is a monster!" in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' when Necrozma shows up, ''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness it's time to run your ass off]]''.
* IHaveNoSon: She claims that she has no children right to Lillie's face when you are trying to rescue Cosmog from the Aether Foundation, citing that anybody who truly loved her wouldn't have betrayed and abandoned her as Lillie and Gladion both did. Then again, she hasn't been herself for a while.
** [[spoiler:Downplayed in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where she still disowns her children for stealing Cosmog and Type: Null, respectively, but she'll still do everthing she can to save them along with the Pokémon of Alola from Necrozma's wrath. Even her facial emotions express how downplayed it is, going from an enraged scowl in the original games to a hurt and disappointed look in the new games.]]
* IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she reunites with Mohn when he visits Aether Paradise for a tour of the facility. He does not remember it, or her, but Lusamine doesn't press the issue any further, and lets him go because he's happier this way. That said it is indicated she may rekindle her relationship with Mohn, as he expresses that he intends to see her again.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe:
** She doesn't care about anyone that she doesn't deem beautiful enough for her love, and even those that she does consider worthy of her love are viewed as possessions rather than sentient beings with free will. Before the final battle with her, Lillie calls her out for only ever thinking about herself; Lusamine doesn't even try to deny it and flat-out asks Lillie why she ''shouldn't''.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' she still has this characteristic to a degree, Lillie summarizing her as a selfish person because she does what she thinks is best for everyone without considering the feelings of others.
* {{Jerkass}}: In ''Sun and Moon''. While she seems nice the first time you meet her, Lusamine is revealed to be nothing but an extremely [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] and [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] ''bitch''. She is also abusive to Lillie and Gladion, and even [[IHaveNoSon disowns them as her children later on because they dared to reject her "love".]] Not to mention she even tried to ''[[OffingTheOffspring kill them!]]''
* JerkassHasAPoint: In ''Sun and Moon''. She wasn't wrong about the fact that you can put additional Pokemon in the PC, so technically they ''can'' be replaced if they aren't strong enough (interestingly Sun and Moon introduced a method to make any Pokémon have perfect [=IV=]s, making her argument less true).
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:she gains more likeable and redeeming qualities, such as having more [[WellIntentionedExtremist understandable]] and less completely selfish [[AntiHero motives]], and [[JerkassRealization ultimately]] realizing [[HeelRealization her mistakes]] and [[HeelFaceTurn doing her best to make it up to her children]], as well as being more [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure reasonable]]. Also, she only disowns them because she felt genuinely betrayed by them when they took Cosmog and Type: Null, but she still says that she will save them from Necrozma, showing that for all of her abrasiveness towards her children, she still cares about them enough to save them from Necrozma. Her response to Hau's surprise at her familial connection between herself and her children describe her best.]]
-->'''Lusamine:''' Those wretches beside you left me. But I will still save them.
* KickTheDog: In ''Sun and Moon''. Minor one, but when Nebby cries out in pain after being used to open a door to Ultra Space, she yells at it for making too much noise.
--> ''Ugh, must you be so noisy, even inside there? What an annoying Pokémon. The only thing I need from you is your power!''
** Overall, knowing very well that Nebby's ability to create Ultra Wormholes might end up '''killing it''' but going through with her actions anyway is a much more major example.
** Averted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where she takes pity on Cosmog's pain and briefly hesitates when Lillie again emphasizes that what she is doing could kill it.
* KillerRabbit: Most of her team consists of cute, but deadly Pokémon, such as Clefable, Bewear, and, no pun intended, Lopunny.
* KnightOfCerebus: The best example of this in the main series since [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Cyrus]] himself, who began the series' CerebusSyndrome.
* KnightTemplar: She believes she is doing something righteous when it comes to helping injured Pokemon, while her true intentions are unusually bizarre and twisted. [[spoiler:She is somewhat more of a straight example in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where she wants to defeat Necrozma and save Alola, although it's all under the justification that she can't "love [her] babies" if the world's light is stolen.]]
* LackOfEmpathy: In ''Sun and Moon''. When Lillie begs her not to use Nebby to open the Ultra Wormholes, warning her that doing so might kill it, Lusamine informs her that she knows that might happen, but as long as it does what she wants it to, she doesn't ''care''.
** [[spoiler:Averted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. When Lillie tells her that using Nebby to open the Ultra Wormhole might kill it, Lusamine understands it and clearly doesn't want to do this to Nebby, but she feels that she must in order to save Alola from Necrozma. After Necrozma's defeat at the hands of the player, Lusamine decides to take Nebby back to Aether Paradise to care for it, and orders Lillie to help care for it too, as a way to make up for what she did.]]
* LadyOfWar: She is a beautiful woman who gives off a serene and elegant aura, and also happens to be one of the most formidable battlers in Alola. This extends to her team, which are all stereotypically cute, elegant, or feminine in some way, and are also extremely powerful.
* LargeAndInCharge: She's rather tall and is the boss of the Aether Foundation.
* LaserGuidedKarma: In ''Sun and Moon''. In Ultra Space she ends up being defeated by the evolved Cosmog, [[TheDogBitesBack the same Pokémon she sent goons to chase after and ultimately abused it nearly to the point of death for her own selfish desires]].
* LeeroyJenkins: [[spoiler:Her sudden decision to fight Necrozma head-on alongside Guzma pretty much obliterated the Ultra Recon Squad's plans and burned the ashes.]]
* LightIsGood: Downplayed in ''Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:as she is willing to sacrifice Nebby if it means she can save Alola from Necrozma.]]
* LightIsNotGood: In ''Sun and Moon''. She's angelic in appearance, though ''definitely'' not in behavior. [[WomanInWhite She wears mostly white with gold]] with blonde hair and she's the biggest KnightOfCerebus since Cyrus as she outcasts two of her family members as tools for her will and when they defy her she decides to try to kill them (only when her madness reaches its peak though). She also is willing to [[ColdBloodedTorture torture "Nebby" to death]]. She states very clearly that if everyone doesn't agree to her standards then [[OmnicidalManiac everyone can die by her will]]. She's also a BadBoss who uses her minions as pawns.
* LivingDollCollector: She has a collection of Pokémon that she cryogenically froze to preserve their "beauty and perfection". She also treats her own children as dolls rather than people in ''Sun And Moon'', expecting them to look and behave however she wants them too, and viciously discarding them when they display the slightest bit of independence. Gladion likens living with her to being a "living ornament" instead of a person.
** [[spoiler:This is implied to be taken in a different direction in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where Lusamine is implied to have cryogenically froze her Pokémon collection and controlling her children to a certain degree [[NeverBeHurtAgain as a way to prevent losing anything else she loves,]] [[NeverBeHurtAgain like her husband Mohn]].]]
* LoveFreak:
** {{Deconstructed}}. Lusamine's motivations revolve around love, and she rants about trying to spread her love to everyone around her several times. The problem is, as a textbook {{sociopath}}, Lusamine doesn't really understand what love is, and as a result her brand of controlling affection tends to push others away, leaving her bewildered and angry over how anyone could reject her love before writing them off as being "ugly" and unworthy of her affections.
** It's revealed in the post-game that her father, who founded the Aether Foundation, was also a LoveFreak and that Lusamine inherited his love for Pokémon, particularly those that are beautiful or those most in need of it. She also loved her husband and children, loving the former so much that she drove herself mad in her research and experiments with Ultra Wormhole energy trying to bring him back after he went missing in the Wormhole. Then she discovered Nihilego and things took a drastic turn for the worse.
** Even in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' she cites her love for all Pokémon as her main motivation. Fortunately, she has a HeelRealization before it can get as extreme as it did in ''Sun and Moon'', claiming that a love where she can let others flourish on their own is a more beautiful kind of love.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: It's implied that her obsession with Ultra Beasts in ''Sun and Moon'' and her hatred towards Ultra Wormholes ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' came out of desperation to find her missing husband.
* MamaBear: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' [[spoiler:despite disowning her children because they left her, she still cares about them enough to try and protect them from Necrozma, and even when she is defeated, [[GoOnWithoutMe she tells Lillie and the player character to run away without her so she'll be safe from Necrozma.]]]]
* MagicPants: When fusing with Nihilego, her brooch, shoes and stockings disappear, only to come back intact after she's separated.
* MakingASplash: Uses a Milotic.
* TheManBehindTheMan: She's this in the first part of the story for Guzma, and therefore Team Skull, as their secret supporter.
* ManipulativeBitch: Lusamine's twisted perception of love is psychologically manipulating anyone she's fond of to keep them in line so she can continue to use them as puppets, and employs this on her children. She also sponsored Team Skull and convinced them to do her dirty work by taking advantage of their financial difficulties and personal turmoil, and [[VillainWithGoodPublicity used the Aether Foundation’s benevolent image to present herself as a good person]]. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', while her manipulative nature is still in place, her reasons are more altruistic, only needing Cosmog to open the Ultra Wormhole to stop Necrozma from stealing Alola's light, and having the Aether Foundation stop anyone who gets in her way to make sure no one can interfere with what she feels is for the greater good.]]
* MaskOfSanity: Lusamine's vicious insanity is very carefully masked behind an empathetic and loving facade. [[spoiler:Averted in ''Ultra Sun and Moon'', where her empathetic and loving nature is genuine this time, to the point where she'll do anything to protect all the Pokémon in existence, no matter what she has to do. It is implied that in ''Sun and Moon'' her previous behavior is a result of Nihilego's neurotoxins.]]
* MeaningfulName:
** The plant she's named after (the garden balsam or ''Impatiens balsamina'') is a beautiful ornamental plant with healing properties, fitting her benevolent appearance. However, it's also bitter and slightly toxic upon ingestion - which fits with [[BitchInSheepsClothing her nature under Nihilego's neurotoxins.]]
** Her English name keeps the above reference but brings to mind the Latin ''lux'' (light), in keeping with her appearance and status as head of the seemingly good Aether Foundation.
* MoralMyopia: In her Nihilego-induced state, Lusamine suffers almost from a BlueAndOrangeMorality where she cannot and does not comprehend that she and her actions could be wrong in any way. This makes her so disconnected from reality that she sees nothing wrong with hurting people, but can't stand when it naturally drives them away. In her eyes, rebelling against her wishes or showing any sort of opposition makes them "ugly" and no longer worthy of love; meanwhile ''she'' is the victim who's being hurt by ''them'' and never did anything wrong to deserve such treatment. After losing to the player character for the first time, she even asks him/her, without a hint of irony, "How can you be so ''awful?''" When later confronted by the player character and Lillie in Ultra Space, she actually states to her own daughter that she will never forgive her for stealing Cosmog from her, which really rings hollow considering that she tortured Cosmog into opening up multiple Ultra Wormholes against its will.
* MotiveRant: A brief one after Nihilego's first appearance, as she filibusters about sharing her love with the Ultra Beasts and all the other Pokémon in the world. [[CerebusRetcon It becomes much darker in hindsight]] once her TrueColors are revealed and the player learns just how twisted Lusamine's concept of "love" really is in ''Sun and Moon''.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Mother Beast Lusamine has several tentacles, four of which even have claws that make them look more hand-like. Ironically, she still lets her Pokémon do the fighting as opposed to getting involved herself.
* MumLooksLikeASister: She's in her 40s, but barely looks much older than her children.
* MyBelovedSmother: This is at least part of the reason Gladion ran away in ''Sun and Moon''; as according to him, he was "like an ornament" to her, wearing whatever she told him to wear, and acting however she wanted him to act. It's also why Lillie is so timid and lacks confidence.
* MysteriousBacker: Team Skull's. Her identity is at best, vaguely alluded to a few times, and it's only after Lillie is kidnapped that it comes out in full.
* NeverMyFault: She has a big problem with this in ''Sun and Moon'', [[MoralMyopia thinking she is justified in everything she does and that anyone who opposes her are the bad ones.]] [[spoiler:Not so much in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where she shows signs of wavering and has to convince herself what she's doing is justified, and then clearly admits that she was wrong and Lillie was right after getting her ass kicked by Necrozma.]]
* NoblewomansLaugh: Often does one when she's mocking Lillie. It is also her speaking animation in the overworld, as well as one of her poses in one of her ''TCG'' artworks.
* NonActionBigBad: Zigzagged -- She's plenty active in the story of ''Sun and Moon'' and battles the player twice, but after fusing with Nihilego and taking on a surely-stronger OneWingedAngel form... She still uses her Pokémon to fight the player, rather than battle them directly.
* NonElemental: Her Bewear is primary Normal type. In ''Pokemon Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon'' she uses Lopunny as a replacement for Mismagius.
* NotGoodWithRejection:
** It's subtle at times, but the game implies pretty heavily that most of Lusamine's villainy is/was prompted by the disappearance of her husband Mohn and the discovery of Nihilego, followed by both of her children running away from her due to her abuse of them. It becomes most obvious by the end of the Aether Foundation story arc, where, having been abandoned by her entire family, all she wants is to be left alone with the Nihilego in Ultra Space for the rest of her life because they'd become her gold standard for beauty, perfection, and worthiness of receiving her love.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' we see a bit more of this, although it's a bit more subdued. While her children leaving still has an effect, her reaction is not so extreme as to lead to hating her children, she still is deeply enraged by her children opposing and leaving her, and she still uses cryogenic freezing on various Pokémon so they can stay with her always. She gets better though after a humbling encounter with Necrozma, begins the process to restore the frozen Pokémon, allows her children independence, and even allows her amnesiac husband Mohn to choose how and when he meets with her.
* ObliviouslyEvil: In ''Sun and Moon'', it's implied that she's more [[TheMentallyDisturbed insane]] than out and out evil, which only serves to make her more dangerous and terrifying as it makes her nigh impossible to be reasoned with. She's insistent that what she's doing is right and refuses to let anyone tell her otherwise.
* OffingTheOffspring: In Sun and Moon, after losing her rematch against the player and utterly crazed/enraged, she tries to personally kill Lillie, being still fused with Nihilego.
* OlderThanTheyLook: She's over 40 years old - even though by first glance, she looks to be somewhere in her 20s - which is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Hau's dumbfounded reaction upon learning this fact.
* OneBadMother: ''Motherbeast'' definitely qualifies in the original games.
* OneWingedAngel: For the second battle against her, she fuses with Nihilego into a half-human, half-jellyfish beast, and uses Totem power to buff all of her Pokémon.
* OurFairiesAreDifferent: Uses a Clefable, which she always sends out first.
* ParentalNeglect: Lusamine's parenting is very neglectful, often refusing to listen to her children's concerns and simply ignoring them as she believes that she either [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon doesn't care about them, only the Ultra Beasts]], [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon or she's doing what's best for them.]]
* ParentsAsPeople: What she is in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. She's not the best parent, being very controlling, but she is otherwise a very well-meaning person and there is no doubt that she cares for her children unconditionally.
* PeekABangs: Her blonde bangs cover her right eye.
* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:After she is revealed to be a HeroAntagonist, a lot of these moments she has in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' substitute her [[KickTheDog crueler moments]] in the original games. First off, she thanks Lillie for keeping Cosmog safe until now, instead of saying that she'd betrayed her, and then when Cosmog is trying to resist, she takes pity on it instead of being annoyed for making too much noise and commends it for its bravery and love for Lillie.]]
* PoorPredictableRock: Surprisingly enough, her Mismagius is her ''only'' Pokémon that can't be completely shut down through resistances (as it knows Shadow Ball, Power Gem, and Mystical Fire). All of the others have only one or two attacking moves, leaving themselves wide open to being blocked by a 'mon with the right resistances. That said, her team as a whole is diverse enough that you'll likely need a separate Pokémon to deal with each of them if you go this route, and dedicated {{Stone Wall}}s will likely find themselves frustrated by the fact that ''every single one of them'' has some means of healing itself.
** Thrown out the window in ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon''. Every single one of her Pokemon has plenty of coverage moves thanks to the Move Tutor and only Bewear has any real healing option in Drain Punch, but that is really more to make up for the recoil damage of Take Down.
* PowerDyesYourHair: Her hair turns black (albeit a few thin streaks of its original color) after fusing with Nihilego, which itself changes from primarily light blue to black.
* ProperTightsWithASkirt: She wears a short skirt and some stockings. The stockings cover almost all of the leg.
* PsychopathicWomanchild: In ''Sun and Moon.'' She treats her children as if they were dolls, and is prone to throwing tantrums like a bratty teenager when angry.
* RapunzelHair: Lusamine's hair flares out nearly a foot on either side of her and reaches down to her hips.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: [[spoiler:She is more reasonable in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. When Gladion and Lillie start worrying for her safety, she decides to battle the player in order to reassure them that she'll be fine when she goes to stop Necrozma. And after Necrozma's defeat at the hands of the player, she clearly understood what she did wrong and resolves to make it up to her children from a safe distance.]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In ''Sun and Moon'', while Lillie is giving her one, Lusamine even gives one to ''the player character'' themselves. Especially to note that [[VillainHasAPoint she points out that just about everyone replaces the Pokémon in their party once they are no longer serving a use to them]]. Which is ''exactly'' what the player most likely did... Ironically, this is the game which introduced Poké Pelago, meaning that the player knows for a fact that their boxed Pokémon are on what amounts to an island vacation, and is likely visiting them regularly -- this is brought up as a counterargument exactly never.
* ReplacementGoldfish: In ''Sun and Moon'' she became obsessed with bringing Ultra Beasts into the world and joining them in their own world after her husband disappeared, even more so after her children ran away.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The fact that she had Aether develop Type: Full (later Type: Null) specifically for the purpose of fighting and killing Ultra Beasts, implies that she might have originally intended to destroy them for taking her husband, prior to becoming obsessed with them. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she still has this mindset, flat-out saying she hates the Ultra Wormholes and the creatures who dwell within it such as Necrozma.]]
* SanitySlippage: The loss of her husband did a number on her sanity, causing the obsession driving her during both stories' events. However, once she met Nihilego in ''Sun and Moon'' she got a lot worse...
* TheScream: In ''Sun and Moon''. Her only verbal reaction to losing her rematch against the player is to just give a wordless scream. This also being the only noise she makes when "fused" with Nihilego.
* {{Sadist}}: In ''Sun and Moon''. She often smiles happily whenever she emotionally abuses Lillie or Gladion and inflicting ColdBloodedTorture on Cosmog. This changes when you confront her in Ultra Space; where instead of expressing any joy, she's now almost perpetually consumed by rage over what the player and Lillie are doing, with even her PsychoticSmirk unable to hide her underlying rage.
* SheepInSheepsClothing: Downplayed in ''Ultra Sun and Moon''. Although she still retains some of her selfishness and some of her unsavory deeds from the original games, she is every bit as genuine in protecting all Pokémon, just like her company is striving for. This is even lampshaded by Hau.
-->'''Hau:''' Miss Lusamine is out there trying to keep Alola safe, right? I knew she was a good person!\\
'''Gladion:''' I guess... She's always convinced that what she's doing is right and she's really kind of selfish, but... But, I think she really just wanted to find our father, who disappeared into an Ultra Wormhole.
* ShesGotLegs: Nice, slender, ''long'' ones, as the camera and her ProperTightsWithASkirt like to reveal. If her official art and in-game model are to be trusted, her legs are almost twice as long as the rest of her body from the waist up!
* SlasherSmile: In ''Sun and Moon'', she tends to pull them off whenever she's plotting, and one could argue that even her regular smile counts as a subdued example of one. By the time she's been definitively revealed as a villain in ''Sun and Moon'', it's pretty much become her default expression.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' however, [[spoiler:because she isn't as bad in this version, she sports it far less.]]
* TheSociopath: In ''Sun and Moon'', she is this to a disturbing degree, especially considering she's a main villain in the original games, both which are intended for children. Her grasp of concepts like love and social interaction in general are extremely warped, with Lusamine's particular brand of "love" consisting of forcing control on anybody and anything which shows her the slightest bit of affection and whom she deems worthy of receiving her own affections - and reacting violently when they reject her. She's also quite self-absorbed, generally treats others like objects and/or tools to be used until they're run out of purpose for her (reinforced by Gladion's comment that she's "extremely kind as long as you mean absolutely nothing to her").
* StartOfDarkness: The disappearance of her husband Mohn is hinted to have made her into a much colder person.
* StatuesqueStunner: While no official height is given for her, she's clearly taller than average.
* StatusBuff: In the second battle against her, she utilizes her Beast Boost powers she obtained from Nihilego to give her Pokémon enhanced power right off the bat.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Her children also have platinum-blonde and angular hair as well as bright green eyes. Gladion also shares her PeekABangs hairstyle, albeit in a much different fashion than his mother.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: She sports these in her Mother Beast form.
* ToughLove: [[spoiler:Her treatment of her children in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' is suggested to be this. While she may have retained some of her controlling behavior, unlike the original games, there is no doubt that she cares about her children, enough to try and protect them from Necrozma. And when she acknowledges that Gladion and Lillie have grown up a bit since leaving Aether Paradise, she is genuinely happy. Also if you compare her expressions when she disowns Lillie, from ''Sun and Moon'' to ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', you'll see that unlike her enraged scowl in the original games, she has a disappointed and hurt expression in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.'']]
* TragicVillain: Once a caring wife and mother, her futile attempts to reunite with her husband and gradual SanitySlippage due to the Ultra Beasts made her the villain she is in the present. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she takes it upon herself to defeat Necrozma and save Alola, and her insistence on doing this herself only leads to her defeat and Necrozma almost destroying Alola. All for the sake of avenging her husband, Mohn.]]
* TraitorShot: In her first appearance in ''Sun and Moon'', when talking about Ultra Beasts, the camera zooms in on her eyes and her SlasherSmile.
* TranquilFury: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', when she finds out that Faba was the one who sold out the Aether Foundation to Team Rainbow Rocket, her expression is basically just a DeathGlare that contains enough anger to scare Faba into running away.
* {{Troperrific}}: She is competing with [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite N]] for stakes in this.
* TsurimeEyes: While Lusamine's eyes are normally like this, when Hau mentions Lillie in her first appearance and whenever Lusamine switches to her SlasherSmile, her eyes noticeably become even ''more'' slanted. After her final defeat and separation from Nihilego, her eyes look wider and brighter, indicating that her malevolence is gone.
* TheUnfought: In a sense. While you do fight her Pokémon, you don't get to directly fight her Mother Beast form in the original games.
* UselessUsefulSpell: Subverted with Milotic. Lusamine's Pokémon in the final encounter get a totem aura to power up a stat that benefits most of them, but Milotic, a special attacker, has her Attack boosted. It's revealed that she has Flail in her moveset, which ''does'' benefit from the boost.
* VileVillainSaccharineShow: In ''Sun and Moon''. This is a woman who while under the influence of a [[EldritchAbomination Nihilego]], [[AbusiveParents abused her children]] and tried to micromanage every aspect of their lives down to what clothes they should wear, [[IHaveNoSon declared that they weren't her children]] and eventually attempted to ''murder them'' when they tried to rebel against her control, freezes the Pokémon she adores so that they'll stay the same forever while they remain on display for her, is willing to hurt and even kill anybody or anyone to further her schemes, Pokémon or otherwise, and in general cares about absolutely nothing but herself and the things she desires. This is all in contrast with Team Skull's [[LaughablyEvil general ineffectual goofiness]] and Alola's cheerful and bright atmosphere.
* VillainHasAPoint: In ''Sun and Moon''. When Lillie tells her that people and Pokémon aren't hers to just collect, use and discard at her pleasure, Lusamine counters that ''trainers'' (using the player in particular as an example) do that exact thing, namely switching out weaker members of their party for stronger, more appealing Pokémon. While this doesn't excuse her any of her actions in any way, her point isn't refuted.
* VillainousBSOD: Downplayed in ''Sun and Moon''. She partly recovers after her final defeat in ''Sun and Moon'', yet she is still struggling with the remaining Nihilego's neurotoxins in her body.
* VillainousBreakdown: In ''Sun and Moon''. She undergoes a gradual one throughout the last part of the main story of ''Sun and Moon''. After her first defeat, she's annoyed by the player character's interference with her plans, but still appears relatively cool-headed. Compare this to her later appearance in Ultra Space, where she's visibly livid and angrily screaming at the player character and Lillie. This ultimately culminates in her fusing with Nihilego, which leaves her not only unable to speak coherently but also in a much more violent state of mind.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: In ''Sun and Moon''. Lusamine is the president of the Aether Foundation, a well-known organization that heals Pokémon. This helps mask her true colors, as she actually experiments on Pokémon to achieve her goals.
* WalkingSpoiler: It's nearly impossible to talk about her without spoiling that she's the villain of ''Sun and Moon'' or her changed role and true personality in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''.
* WeaponOfChoice: Bewear, very fittingly. They both seem cute and innocent, but are actually incredibly dangerous and give people unwanted love that hurts them.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she is willing to do anything to save the people and Pokémon she loves from Necrozma, even if it meant sacrificing Cosmog.]]
-->'''Lusamine:''' [[spoiler:I will force Cosmog to use its power and it may very well die. But if it will save the world for all my beloved Pokemon, then that is what I will do.]]
* WhenSheSmiles: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she sports this during her PetTheDog moments after she is revealed to be a HeroAntagonist, and it's oddly quite touching to see. Because she is not as bad this time, this is basically her default expression. This is in stark contrast to the original games where she sports a SlasherSmile during her KickTheDog moments.]]
* WindowsOfTheSoul: One of the earliest hints she's a villain in ''Sun and Moon'' for those paying attention to the art style are her eyes. Most everyone else has noticeable white highlights in their eyes. Lusamine's by contrast are flat, dull, and effectively lifeless looking from the moment she's introduced, giving her a creepy UncannyValley effect.
* WomanInWhite: Her top and skirt is mostly white with some gold to establish that LightIsNotGood. She also wears white stockings on her feet.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: In ''Sun and Moon''. It's stated that Lusamine's obsession with the Ultra Beasts stemmed from grief over the disappearance of her husband Mohn in an Ultra Wormhole, and that at least at first she was looking for a way to get him back, and possibly seek vengeance upon the Ultra Beasts using Type: Null. Lillie reminisces that her mother was fun-loving and kind to her before that incident, after which her obsession with finding Mohn and the discovery of Nihilego is implied to have twisted her into a gradually worsening sociopath, which eventually resulted in Gladion fleeing from her, later followed by Lillie herself. Ultimately, all Lusamine wanted was to have the love of her life back, but in her psychosis forgot how to care for her children and played with forces she didn't understand, and as a result both she and her family suffered the consequences that she was too obsessed to even consider in the first place.
* WouldHurtAChild: Makes an ambiguous murder threat to the player character at the start of their first battle in ''Sun and Moon'', an ''unambiguous'' murder threat at the start of their second battle, and then attempts to ''kill her daughter Lillie'' afterwards. [[spoiler:Averted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, when she states that even when Lillie and Gladion betrayed and left her, she will still save them along with all the Pokémon in existence, as it is her duty as President of the Aether Foundation, even if it she has to sacrifice Cosmog.]]
* {{Yandere}}: She really, really ''really'' loves the Ultra Beasts. So much so she would literally ''destroy the world'' if it meant being able to be with them. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', this trope is ''completely'' averted.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Wicke]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wicke_9.png]]
The assistant branch chief of Aether Paradise has a caring personality, so she’s loved by all the Aether Foundation employees.
----
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Wicke cares about the well-being of the Foundation's Pokémon; because of this, she is popular among the Foundation's staff.
* IronicName: Her name is one letter away from the word "wicked". [[TokenGoodTeammate She is one of the few non-antagonistic members of the Aether Foundation, supports both Lillie and Gladion in opposition to their insane mother in Sun and Moon, and even heals your team when you storm Aether Paradise.]]
* {{Meganekko}}: Wicke's glasses only add to her charm.
* TheMole: You learn in the ''Sun and Moon'' post-game that she's now working for Interpol, and provides them with information on the Ultra Beasts.
* MsExposition: Her role for the remainder of ''Sun and Moon'' after the completion of the postgame is showing you info on the Ultra Beasts.
* NiceGirl: In the initial trailer that revealed the Aether Foundation, both Wicke and Lusamine were built up to be sweet and motherly characters. In the game proper, Wicke actually ''is'' as nice as the trailer made her out to be, in stark contrast to ''Sun and Moon's'' version of Lusamine.
* NeutralFemale: She neither directly opposes nor particularly assists the player's efforts at rescuing Lillie and Cosmog, though she ''does'' heal their Pokémon after they return to the Paradise's main floor for the second time.
* NonIndicativeName: Her name's Wicke, but she's not really wicked.
* OnlySaneWoman: Wicke is one of the few employees who remains nice and helpful throughout.
* ParentalSubstitute: Implied to have been a mother figure to Gladion and Lillie after Lusamine turned cold towards them.
* SheepInSheepsClothing: Wicke really is as nice as she appears to be, unlike Faba and ''Sun and Moon's'' version of Lusamine.
* SweaterGirl: She probably has a sufficient reason to wear a thick turtleneck sweater in the Alola region, but the pink sweater is the most vibrant part of her design.
* TokenGoodTeammate: She is the one who helped Lillie escape the Aether Foundation from the beginning. Also, during the protagonist's investigation of the Aether Foundation to save Lillie, Wicke is one of the few members who doesn't battle you. In fact, she even heals your team at one point. This is even further suggested in an official release poster for ''Ultra Sun and Moon'' which shows a VFormationTeamShot consisting of Guzma, Sophocles, the Player Character, and Wicke facing off against Team Rainbow Rocket.
* TheUnfought: The only named member of the Aether Foundation to not be fought, even though in ''Ultra Sun and Moon'' she mentions that she went on a journey in Kanto when she was younger, meaning that at least at one point she was a trainer.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Heavily implied to be malasadas. In both games, she gives the player character and Hau some Big Malasadas at various points. Taken further in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where she gives them away much more frequently, mentions malasadas when you talk to her in the postgame, and is even seen holding a basket of them in a [[https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/6e/Ultra_Sun_Ultra_Moon_Team_Rainbow_Rocket.png piece of promotional art]] for Episode RR.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Faba (Sauboh)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/faba_9.png]]
The Aether Foundation's branch chief. He has a very arrogant personality, and believes himself to be far more important than he actually is.
----
* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler:He was a HateSink to begin with, but in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', he sells out the entire Aether Foundation to Team Rainbow Rocket, letting them take over so they can expand the company across ''entire dimensions'' with himself on top.]]
* BeardOfEvil: He sports a goatee, and has a habit of stroking it.
* BigWhat: When Hau points out the flaw in his plan to stop the group.
* BonusBoss: [[spoiler:Aside from being fightable at Aether Paradise in the post-game, he's also one of the potential challengers to the player's title of Champion... only in the original ''Sun and Moon'', however. His status as BonusBoss is AdaptedOut for Lusamine in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'']].
* ChildHater: After being defeated by the player character, he remarks how he dislikes children. Despite his later change of heart, he still seems to be this to an extent later on; when speaking to Faba in the post-game discussing whether he would make a better acting President of the Aether Foundation than Gladion and answering that Gladion would do a better job, he nearly goes on a tirade before stopping himself.
* CoolShades: The large, green sunglasses he wears are his trademark accessory, and are designed to resemble fava beans.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Hamminess, massive ego, and the below VillainBall moment aside, he's a competent enough Pokémon battler to [[spoiler:defeat Alola's Elite Four and challenge you for the title of Champion.]]
* DirtyCoward: Prides himself as the Aether Foundation's last line of defense in his debut yet refuses to fight a Skull Grunt to save a Slowpoke, questioning what they'd be able to do if he was incapacitated and gets the player to fight the grunt instead.
* DishingOutDirt: In ''Pokemon Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon'' his Slowbro is replaced by Claydol.
* EpicFail: His attempt to cover his tracks in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' in spades.
* EvilGenius: He oversaw the various projects regarding the Ultra Wormholes and is the lead researcher in the Foundation.
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:PlayedForLaughs. Rather than be arrested for his villainous actions, he is kept on at Aether Paradise... but is demoted to ''intern'' position, which absolutely horrifies and depresses him.]]
* HateSink: He's a selfish, greedy coward who only cares about standing on top of the company, and even being "reformed" along with the company doesn't help his case. [[spoiler:Even more so in his ''Ultra'' appearances, where he sells out his own company for his own advancement.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: Turns over a new leaf post-game. Or so he claims, him trying to become Aether President and nearly falling back into his ChildHater tendencies in the post-game also implies that he just wants to save his own ass. [[spoiler:Subverted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where he betrays the Aether Foundation in the post-game when a better offer shows up, showing that he only cares about his own advancement.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', Faba badmouthing Gladion is changed to him thinking that he would be a better president than Lusamine, calling her out for being an egotist. While Lusamine does still have issues with putting herself before other people, she's overall much better about it in these games than she was in ''Sun and Moon'' while Faba became even more of a selfish jerk.
* {{Irony}}:
** He claims to dislike children, yet his strongest Pokémon is a Hypno, a species that is notorious for preying on children's dreams.
** In the post-game, he gives the player a Dubious Disc during a conversation about him having turned over a new leaf.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He cares for himself and the advancement of his own career above anything and anyone else.
* {{Jerkass}}: He has a high opinion of himself and acts very condescending towards Wicke and the player character.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Actively cultivates his position as Branch Chief throughout the game, usually defying to engage in most of the other roles he needs to do through ego or incompetence, and is on Lusamine's side with her ambitions. As a result, he is demoted when the Aether Foundation is restructured following her defeat. In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:his demotion happens when he sells the entire foundation--Lusamine included--out to Team Rainbow Rocket explicitly to advance his own career, making his fate all the more poetically just.]]
* MakingASplash: His Slowbro and Bruxish. In the remakes, this redundancy is answered by replacing Slowbro (who never used a Water-type move in any of the battles it is used in, anyways) with Claydol.
* MeaningfulName: Named after fava beans, which are what his glasses are meant to resemble.
* NumberTwo: To Lusamine in the Aether Foundation. [[spoiler:Subverted after the post-game of ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where he is reduced to a intern.]]
* PsychicPowers: Specializes in Psychic-type Pokémon. He seems to avert the tendency for Psychic-type Pokemon users to be psychic themselves.
* TheQuisling: Being the DirtyCoward that he is, Faba jumps ship and joins with Team Rainbow Rocket.
* RedemptionDemotion: During the post-game, Faba gets demoted down to a rank-and-file member, but also promises that he's had a change of heart.
* ReformedButNotTamed: While he claims to have reformed following his demotion, he's still kind of a jerk.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He gets very annoyed when not given "proper respect", first shown with him getting upset with Wicke over her calling him "Mr. Faba", to which he points out he has a title for a reason.
* SmugSnake: He prides himself as a genius and a very important person, yet his plans to distract the heroes were very easily foiled. Driving this point further is the fact that [[{{Keet}} Hau]] of all people was the one to point this out.
* TheStarscream: [[spoiler:He sells out the Aether Foundation to Team Rainbow Rocket in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' just to aid his own career.]]
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: [[spoiler:After Giovanni's defeat at the end of ''Ultra Sun'' and ''Ultra Moon''[='s=] Episode RR, he tells Lusamine he "would never do such a thing as betray the foundation and invite Team Rainbow Rocket in, just to advance [his] career" after she regains consciousness and his lie falls flat with her in addition to Lillie, Guzma, and the protagonist. This ends up with him being demoted from branch chief to intern, after which he's shown doing manual labor for other employees.]]
* TokenEvilTeammate: Even if Aether Foundation was the main antagonist team in ''Sun and Moon'', Faba is the most-selfish one you'd ever met. But especially in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where Aether Foundation isn't evil, just misguided, he's this trope played straight.
* VillainBall:
** During the protagonists' second visit to the Aether Foundation in ''Sun and Moon'', Hau asks if Faba has a key to a locked door, to which he replies yes. Hau then points out that if he had just stayed hidden, said protagonists would then be stuck and probably unable to stop said evil plans.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', he instead tells the protagonists that Lusamine's at her mansion, during the point where they had no idea where she was.
* WeaponOfChoice: Hypno is his strongest and/or final Pokémon in every battle with him.
[[/folder]]
----
to:
An organization dedicated to protecting hurt Pokémon, especially those who have been abused by Team Skull, on their own private island. However, there's more to them than it seems, which turns out to be them secretly having been in league with Team Skull the whole time, as their financial backer.
'''''WARNING: Major spoilers for VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon and VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon follow. Read at your own risk.'''''
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Tropes that apply to the whole group]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aether_foundation_employees.png]]
* AmbiguouslyBrown: The employees have a much darker skin color than most other villainous team grunts.
* AntiHeroTeam: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' the Aether Foundation genuinely wants to help Pokémon and protect the Alola region but will use unsavory methods to do so.]]
* CardCarryingVillain: Mostly subverted but one employee mentions that he's "embraced the darkness in his heart". [[spoiler:This same employee is implied to be the one that defects to Team Rainbow Rocket with Faba in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''.]]
* DeathGlare: The female employees sport these when battling the player during the Aether Foundation infiltration.
* EliteMooks: Aether Employees' choice of Pokémon make them a cut above the average evil team's grunts.
* ExhaustedEyeBags: The female employees sport these when battling the player during the Aether Foundation infiltration.
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:One employee defects to Team Rainbow Rocket alongside Faba]] in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: By means of a CallBack. Their uniforms (particularly their caps) resemble pallet swapped versions of Team Rocket's. This gives you an early hint that they're EvilAllAlong in ''Sun and Moon''. This trope is downplayed in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' as they are genuinely good, if on the WellIntentionedExtremist side of things.
* HeelFaceTurn: During the post-game of ''Sun and Moon'', after Lusamine's Ultra Beast obsession and affliction with Nihilego's neurotoxins has been dealt with, the protagonist can visit the Aether Foundation again. The Foundation is still around, but is now attempting to save and conserve Pokémon for real, with Gladion as their president. Further enforced by the animation set used by Aether Foundation employees in the Battle Tree being much friendlier than those used during the infiltration of Aether Paradise. [[spoiler:Similarly in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' once Lusamine fails in protecting Alola, she admits she was wrong to take Nebby, and the Aether Foundation goes on to trust in the protagonist to stop Necrozma.]]
* HelpfulMook: In Aether Paradise, one employee would man Gladion's boat for you should you ever need to return to the mainland, and another in the main entrance will heal your team. Averted with one mook in another room; who says that even if he loses, he won't tell you anything.
* JustFollowingOrders: The reason why you had to battle them when trying to look for Lillie was that they suddenly were put on high-alert and were ordered to stop intruders in general.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Have a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSVDUe2ymZY&index=64&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H laid-back and futuristic theme]] that plays throughout their paradise. There is also a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeEy-JlTZxY&index=74&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H violin version]] that plays in the standalone labs found throughout the region. It later receives a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4bMzkn4g2o&index=65&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H serene-yet-unsettling remix]] mixed with Lusamine's leitmotif in her encounter theme, a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf3fvqmKB1M&index=82&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H mysterious and villainous]] mix after their antagonistic side is exposed, a much more [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcSiaBnXdUs&index=87&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H threatening and cinematic mix]] in the Employee battle theme, and finally a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHoIWAuDilA&index=83&list=PLcEun0ol29M0LBzbM8G1FkI8IcViwIU0H flat-out disturbing mix]] played in their secret basement.
* LightIsGood: Mostly in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' and after their HeelFaceTurn in the post-game of ''Sun and Moon''.
* LightIsNotGood: In contrast to the [[DarkIsEvil mainly-black Team Skull]], their main colours include white and gold, and they're just as much villains as the former in ''Sun and Moon''. However, they become good in the post-game after Lusamine's Ultra Beast obsession has been dealt with.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: A few employees were kept in the dark on the true intentions of the higher ups of the Foundation, and some of them even end up genuinely aiding the player and their friends along the way. Some of them make it clear that they are antagonizing the player for the sake of it, however.
* NoNameGiven: Played with. As soon as they're no longer considered villains, even generic members of the Aether Foundation trainer class are allowed to have real names. However, the named generic employees are only battled in the Battle Tree.
* ObviouslyEvil: Subverted. After the intro where Aether employees were chasing Lillie with [[SlasherSmile Slasher Smiles]], was anybody really buying that they were a benevolent company, on a mission to help all Pokémon? However, it is implied that the majority of employees don't even know what's going on and are hostile only due to you being an intruder. In the post-game, once Lusamine's obsession with the Ultra Beasts and affliction with Nihilego's neurotoxins has been dealt with, the Aether Foundation really ''does'' become a benevolent company that helps Pokémon. This trope is also subverted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:as they are a benevolent company that helps Pokémon but kidnap Nebby in an effort to stop Necrozma from stealing Alola's light.]]
* PoorPredictableRock: Averted. Aether Employees aren't restricted to typical grunt Pokémon. Expect to see lots of types and strategies to boot.
* PunchClockVillain: With the exception of ''Sun and Moon's'' version of [[TheSociopath Lusamine]] and [[SmugSnake Faba]], most of the employees are really just doing their job and protecting their research from intruders (i.e. you). [[spoiler:Subverted with at least one employee in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', who joins Team Rainbow Rocket and aids Faba in a multi battle]].
* RuleOfCool: An employee expresses how she joined the team because she thought that the uniforms were cool, then [[RealityEnsues she laments how much work it is to look after Pokémon]].
* SlasherSmile: The male employees sport these when battling the player during the Aether Foundation infiltration. The ones that chase Lillie in the intro have them as well.
* UnwittingPawn: Most of the lower ranking members have no idea about the ''Sun and Moon's'' version of Lusamine's plans and only attack the player because they were told they were trying to steal Pokémon.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Whenever you see them on the second and third islands, they're celebrated by the populace, and work closely with trusted authorities. Because the protagonists took them down by storming their secluded headquarters before they can kickstart their leader's plan, most Alolan citizens are LockedOutOfTheLoop regarding their true intentions, though some important [=NPCs=] are hinted to know this but keep it secret for some reason. It helps that they undergo a HeelFaceTurn after Lusamine is taken down. This trope is subverted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where they're genuinely good as a whole, if misguided.
* WealthyPhilanthropist: According to a scientist at Aether Paradise, Lusamine's father was an immensely wealthy man who started the Aether Foundation because of his love for Pokémon.
* WouldHurtAChild: One employee implies that they're going to murder Hau, Gladion, and the Player after they go to the secret labs.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Lusamine]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lusamine_sm.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Click [[labelnote:here]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/motherbeast_lusamine.png[[/labelnote]] to see her fused form with Nihilego]]
--> ''"I still need that Pokémon. I need to get it back. [...] It looked like it was suffering... Like it pained it to be in this strange place... I can't bear to see that happen! I will save it. [[TraitorShot And I will love it]]!"'' - From VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon
--> ''"[[WellIntentionedExtremist I will force Cosmog to use it's power and it may very well die. But if it will save the world for all my beloved Pokémon, then that is what I will do.]] Lillie. I will be using the Cosmog you stole for a great purpose. [[PetTheDog You have kept it safe until now, and for that... I thank you.]]"'' - From VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon
The lovely Lusamine functions as the Aether Foundation’s president, though as it turns out, she's not as lovely as she seems.
----
* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Subverted. She appears to be pretty young but is actually over 40.
* AbusiveParents: Discards her daughter Lillie, declaring her to be worthless, and was prepared to kill her during their confrontation in Ultra Space. She tightly controlled every aspect of her children's lives, right down to what clothes they could wear, as both Gladion and Lillie attest. Lillie later tells Gladion that, as bad as she was when they both lived with her, she got ''worse'' after he fled with Type: Null.
** [[spoiler:This behavior seems to be a result of Nihilego's neurotoxins as this trope is heavily downplayed in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. While she does keep some of her controlling tendencies and temporary disownment of her children, she isn't as abusive to them, just more of a case of being a tough parent struggling with her grief for losing her husband. Not to mention, some of her crueler dialogue is replaced with kinder dialogue.]]
* ActionMom: She is easily one of the strongest characters in the game, and could easily put Gladion or Lillie back in their place.
* AdaptationalHeroism: [[spoiler:In the original games, she is a crazed, abusive mother and BitchInSheepsClothing who is willing to callously off anyone in order to live out her obsession with Ultra Beasts, specifically Nihilego who causes this behavior with its neurotoxin, before suddenly having a HeelFaceTurn offscreen. In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' she is a [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-meaning]], decent if flawed ReasonableAuthorityFigure and AntiHero who is willing to do anything to save the people and Pokémon she loves from what Necrozma plans to do with Alola's light, as well as [[ParentsAsPeople genuinely caring for her children despite not being the best parent as well as being mad at them for stealing the Pokémon needed to stop Necrozma]], and finally seeing the error of her ways and changing them for the better.]]
* AdaptedOut: [[spoiler:Her Mismagius from the originals was switched out for a Lopunny in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. Due to her obsession with Nihilego and being inflicted with its neurotoxin no longer being present in these games, she never fuses with one and thus her Motherbeast form also does not appear]].
* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', her friendliness is shown here to be rather genuine, unlike the original games. First, she thanks Lillie for keeping Cosmog safe until it was captured. Then she takes a moment to show pity for Cosmog's pain, and acknowledges its love for Lillie. After she was defeated in Aether Paradise, instead of ranting like a bratty teenager like in the original games, she becomes impressed with the player character's strength in battle and compliments him/her. Finally, she feels genuinely touched by Gladion's concern for her, and takes a moment to reassure him that she'll be fine when she goes to stop Necrozma.]]
* AlmightyMom: No matter how much Lillie and Gladion try to stop her, she proves to be one step ahead. If it wasn't for you, she would've gotten what she wanted, (having Cosmog open up a wormhole so that she could unleash the Ultra Beasts, and also stay in Ultra Space) even after Gladion ran away with Type: Null, which was itself created to defeat those very same Ultra Beasts. And in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, [[spoiler:despite being mad at her children, she is willing to save them from Necrozma, along with all the Pokémon in existence.]]
* AmazonBrigade: Her Pokémon team is all-female with a [[CuteBruiser cute]] or beautiful theme. They are also one of the toughest fights in the game, with great natures, individual values, effort values, and Totem Boosts on top of that in their second battle.
* AntiHero: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:she is motivated by a desire to save the world and all the people and Pokémon she loves from Necrozma, as well as the desire to avenge the loss of her husband, rather than out of totally insane selfishness. That said, she still goes through with nearly killing Nebby to open the Ultra Wormhole.]]
* ArchnemesisDad: GenderFlipped: she's this for Gladion and Lillie, especially for the latter in the original games. The player and Hau are mostly just along for the ride in the main storyline, with Lusamine's children being the primary force when it comes to taking her down.
* AsleepForDays: In ''Sun and Moon.'' After being released from Nihilego, Lusamine falls into a coma. However, Lillie tells you after you beat the Pokémon League and during the celebration that Lusamine had recovered from her comatose state and even tried to come to the celebration as well.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: She is the president of the Aether Foundation and is one of the most difficult fights of the series.
* AxCrazy: In ''Sun and Moon.'' Be it innocent bystanders or her own children, she doesn't care who she has to hurt to get what she wants. To put things into perspective, even Guzma, the guy who calls himself "destruction in human form", thinks she's too far gone to be reasoned with, though this is admittedly after her mental state has gotten a lot worse from being inflicted with Nihilego's neurotoxins.
* BadassAdorable: Her team is full of them. Her team theme is cute or beautiful Pokémon[[note]]Clefable, Mismagius, Milotic, Lilligant, Bewear, and Lopunny[[/note]], and all five of them have perfect individual values ''and'' ideal natures and effort values, meaning that each of them is likely to be able to crush a casual player's Pokémon in a one-on-one fight unless they're facing a type or level disadvantage.
* BadassInCharge: Head of the Aether Foundation and their strongest trainer.
* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler:The Team Rainbow Rocket subplot in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' centers around Lusamine being held hostage while the evil team takes over Aether Paradise, all so Giovanni can use the Ultra Beasts' power to brainwash her into becoming his pawn and lending all of Aether's technology and knowledge of the Ultra Wormholes.]]
* BadBoss: In ''Sun and Moon''. Faba and Guzma are shown to be scared by her and think she's gone off the deep end. She also uses both of them as pawns and seemingly has no care about them.
* BearsAreBadNews: She has a Bewear, which are infamous for killing people by accident.
* BeautyIsBad: In ''Sun and Moon''.A deceptively beautiful woman secretly plotting to go to Ultra Space even if it means unleashing Ultra Beasts on Alola.
* BenevolentBoss: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she treats her employees far better than her original counterpart, even if she is not without flaws. She even treats Guzma more respectfully and makes good on her statement on how strong Guzma is by treating him more like a partner than a pawn.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:she is a very decent and well-meaning if flawed person. But she is a force to be reckoned with as well. Harming the people (including her children) and Pokemon she loves and the Aether Foundation is a '''''very''''' good way to get on her bad side. Just ask Faba and Necrozma.]]
* BigBad: Ultimately of ''Sun and Moon''. She's also the first female example in the series.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Appears to be a kind and helpful woman when she is introduced, but she is anything ''but'' that. [[spoiler:Averted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, when her kind and helpful nature is revealed to be genuine this time, as she is only harsh to Lillie and Gladion for stealing Cosmog and Type: Null, respectively, since they were both needed for more heroic purposes this time, and she only disowns them out of feelings of genuine betrayal and hurt disappointment. Her earlier behavior in ''Sun and Moon'' is implied to be a result of Nihilego's neurotoxins]]
* BonusBoss: [[spoiler:Exclusively in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she is one of two additional challengers in the Title Defense match.]]
* BossOnlyLevel: She is the only enemy in the small area of Ultra Space that you get to visit courtesy of Solgaleo/Lunala. There aren't even any random encounters. [[spoiler:But in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, that part of Ultra Space is called the Ultra Deep Sea, when Nihilego can be caught there many times, even Shiny ones!]]
* BossRemix: Her battle theme is a remix of her normal theme.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: In ''Sun and Moon''. She is unhealthily obsessed with [[EldritchAbomination Nihilego]] and the other Ultra Beasts. Considering that Nihilego is based on a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myxobolus_cerebralis Myxozoa]], which brainwashes the fish it infects, her obsession and insanity might stem from mind-control.
* BrokenBird: Once a paragon and a loving mother, Lusamine underwent a tragedy - namely [[spoiler:the loss of her husband and the father of her children to an Ultra Wormhole]] - that changed her personality for the worse, turning her into a controlling mother. Even in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where she's less abusive and doesn't descend into insanity, Lusamine is motivated to defeat Necrozma not out of altruism, but rather [[spoiler:to protect the ones she loves and for her own self-satisfaction, believing it will help her overcome the helplessness she felt when she lost Mohn.]]
* BrutalHonesty: Those comparisons between her and the player in ''Sun and Moon'' run really deep...
* CatchPhrase: "How annoying."
* ClimaxBoss: In ''Sun and Moon''. While not the FinalBoss, the battle with Motherbeast Lusamine concludes the game's primary storyline, with only the Pokémon League left afterwards. Fittingly, the fight is one of the most difficult in the game.
* CombatStilettos: She wears heels throughout most of the game and is an extremely proficient Pokémon battler. Her intro animation for her first fight and [[spoiler:Title Defense battle]] starts with a strong clack of her right heel.
* ConfusionFu: In ''Ultra Sun And Moon'', her Lopunny knows Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, ''and'' Dizzy Punch.
* ControlFreak: She was very controlling of her two children, down to choosing exactly they were allowed to wear. Before the reveal, she briefly tries the same on Hau, a small boy she'd never even met before.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist:
** Lusamine compares and contrasts with the BigBad of [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY the prior game]], Lysandre, in quite a few ways. Both of them are wealthy philanthropists who are introduced to the player long before their official reveal as villains, but Lysandre is a DevilInPlainSight whereas Lusamine's a BitchInSheepsClothing while under the influence of Nihilego. Lysandre directly leads his game's main villainous team while Lusamine serves as a MysteriousBacker to hers. The methods and motives of the two are parallel but also differ in some important ways: both want to destroy the world after spending years trying to better it, but Lysandre is convinced that mankind as a whole can't be saved because it's fundamentally flawed, while Lusamine rejected humanity because she can't comprehend why a select few - her family - never showed her what she believed to be love. Both of them are also very fixated on the concept of beauty, and have a significant but antagonistic relationship with the player's closest ally (Professor Sycamore for Lysandre, Lillie for Lusamine). Admittedly Lusamine's goals can be seen as more a rejection of the world and wanting to leave it behind rather than any desire to destroy it, indeed the only explicit destruction she mentions is being okay with the Ultra Beasts wrecking the islands if it makes them happy. Otherwise she is content to just stay in another dimension, unlike Lysandre who decided the world should change for him. While in [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunandMoon the retelling,]] Lusamine instead seeks to use Nebby to save Alola.
** She is also one to the BigBad of [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite the game even further back]], Ghetsis. Both of them lead a team who claim to look after the common welfare of Pokemon but while Team Plasma's true agenda is absolutely ruthless and self-serving, the Aether Foundation genuinely wanted to help Pokemon before Lusamine got involved with Nihilego and in the retelling is instead trying to save Alola. Both are also AbusiveParents. (Lusamine in the original game) However, while Team Plasma's ruse was paper-thin and it was clear that Team Plasma couldn't be trusted since they blatantly steal Pokemon from trainers to "free" them. The Aether Foundation does a ''much'' better job of hiding its shadowy intentions, using far more professional strategies and having far more resources to carry out their plans. While the Aether Foundation stayed whole in both the original game and it's retelling/remake, Team Plasma split, due to half following Ghetsis and half actually wanting to help Pokemon with their king, N. While Ghetsis was driven only by love for himself while harboring callous apathy or even outright contempt for others, Lusamine is driven by a self-serving insanity that she mistakenly believes is pure love and a desire to give love and affection to others she deems worthy of receiving it, induced by Nihilego. Both Ghetsis and Lusamine became physically ill by the end of their story arc, but while Ghetsis remained irredeemable to the last, Lusamine seeks to make amends, according to Lillie and is a much better person in ''Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon''.
** In ''Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon'' [[spoiler:she contrasts N. Both are the most altruistic villains in Pokémon and believe their actions will be for the benefit of Pokémon. However, N wanted to use a Legendary Pokémon to separate people and Pokémon in an incorrect view that they are better of that way and thought of himself as a hero when his actions were detrimental to both humans and Pokémon. Lusamine is trying to stop a dangerous Legendary Pokémon from destroying Alola and if she succeeded, she actually would have been a hero... but her methods would've likely alienated her from her children forever.]]
** On a more meta level, she's also the ''Pokémon'' series' [[TheSmurfettePrinciple very first female]] BigBad.
* CollectorOfTheStrange: Nothing gets stranger and more morbid than having dozens of '''cryogenically frozen Pokémon''' on display.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: She's the head of the Aether Foundation company and the main villain in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon''.
* CuteAndPsycho: In the final battle in Sun and Moon, her BadassAdorable Pokémon team get a little... demented.
* DarkActionGirl: The "Dark" part isn't obvious until later, but she's nonetheless a very competent opponent in battle.
* DeathGlare: In the final battle of ''Sun and Moon'', all of her 'mons except Bewear have these expressions when given a Totem aura.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Some of her actions (And even her motivations) actually make her somewhat like a ''player'' of the Pokémon games. [[YouBastard And it's played for horror.]]
** Lusamine loves Pokémon, especially ones that are needy or suffering, and wants all of them... which is a common goal in the franchise.
** Lusamine has a huge collection of Pokémon in cryogenic stasis. Hau, Lillie, and the player character are horrified at seeing this. How many players have a huge collection of Pokémon in PC Stasis, ''just'' like her? When Lillie calls her out on treating Pokémon and people as merely things to use and discard as she pleases, Lusamine responds by asking what makes her so different from the player character putting Pokémon they no longer need inside a Box. However, this comparison rings a bit hollow in these games, where Poké Pelago provides boxed Pokemon with a place to frolic. Obviously, Lusamine doesn't know about it, otherwise she'd know where her husband is -- but the player character surely does, and never thinks to mention it.
** A brand new unknown Pokémon appears. What does Lusamine want with it? Why... she wants it herself. Which most players ''wanted'' with the Ultra Beasts anyway.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' [[spoiler:she is trying to stop the latest Legendary Pokémon that is going out of control and threatening to destroy the region, just like players of past generations. However, she is oblivious to the fact her actions have the potential to harm others and she herself is unable to stop Necrozma. Her motives for stopping Necrozma are also implied to be more about avenging the loss of her husband rather than about saving Alola.]]
* DragonInChief: In ''Sun and Moon''. Nihilego is not considered sentient as it doesn't seem to have actual malice and is motivated on self-preservation. Lusamine is the one with the plan.
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: In ''Sun and Moon''. Her apparent "fusion" with the Nihilego she captured leaves her somehow an even more wrecked individual than before; that is, until she's knocked out of her senses by Solgaleo/Lunala and the Nihilego is off her. Information given about Nihilego in the post-game implies that this is basically what its neurotoxins always do to a host that it latches onto, and that Lusamine's repeated exposure to said toxin left her in a lingering case of sociopathic madness.
* DyingAsYourself: Downplayed in ''Sun and Moon''. While she doesn't actually die, she apparently returns to her former self before losing consciousness and entering a temporary coma.
* EasilyForgiven: Despite all she's done in ''Sun and Moon'', including trying to ''murder'' her children, once she's defeated and recovers from her coma Lillie says she wanted to attend the player being crowned Champion if she weren't too weak to go, implying they would have let her attend. Lillie is also comfortable letting her rebuild their relationship.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', it's more [[JustifiedTrope justified]], as Lusamine is not as villainous as she was in the original games. Because Lusamine is motivated by the desire to avenge the loss of her husband, Lillie makes it clear that while she didn't approve of her mother's methods, she understood that they were motivated by the desire to avenge her father. As such when Lusamine apologizes to her for what she did, it's obvious that Lillie had already forgiven her.
* EasterEgg: Two of her Pokémon, Lilligant and Clefable, had evolved through -- you guessed it -- a Sun and Moon Stone, respectively.
* EvilMatriarch: She's Lillie and Gladion's mother and the first female main antagonist in the main Pokémon games. [[spoiler:Subverted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, when she's revealed to have a kind and helpful nature this time, as she needs Cosmog to help protect Alola's Pokémon.]]
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Her fused form has eye-like patterns across her tentacles, with what seems to be Z-Crystals acting as their pupils.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: In ''Sun and Moon''. In contrast to most other ObviouslyEvil team leaders, she looks perfectly innocent and helpful (even resembling Gen [=IV=] BigGood Champion Cynthia to some degree), but is one of the most psychotic characters in the series.
* FallenHeroine: She used to be good before she lost her husband in the Ultra Wormhole, which caused her to take a much darker path. Assuming he was dead.
* FauxAffablyEvil: In ''Sun and Moon''. Like Ghetsis, in the Japanese version, she continues to speak in an overly polite manner even after she drops her charade.
* FeetFirstIntroduction: In both the English and Japanese trailers, though it's more apparent in the Japanese one. Zig-zagged in-game, as while you see her model first, the cutscene that plays when meeting her starts on her feet before panning up the rest of her body. Her battle animation is also introduced in this manner, probably as a deliberate CallBack to the above.
* FingerlessHands: After fusing with Nihilego, her shoes disappear, revealing her now toeless feet (though it's possible they're covered in some sort of substance or membrane).
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In ''Sun and Moon''. She is visibly annoyed when Hau mentions Lillie, and has a sinister grin when everyone else is freaking out over Nihilego's first appearance.
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: In ''Sun and Moon''. In her pre-battle animation as Motherbeast Lusamine, she throws her Ultra Ball and flies right towards the camera while pulling off a NightmareFace.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: How she presents herself in ''Sun and Moon'', and allegedly had been before she went insane. As of the present, she's anything ''but''.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' [[spoiler:however, this is a genuine aspect of her personality. She makes it clear that she will do anything to protect the Pokemon she loves from what Necrozma plans to do with Alola's light.]]
* FusionDance: Performs this with her Nihilego before the final boss battle in ''Sun and Moon''. This also gives all her Pokémon Totem Boosts. In reality though, this is very well likely how Nihilego further parasitizes on its host, and she ends up with a nice heaping load of neurotoxin in her system.
* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: She uses a Bewear.
* GirlyBruiser: All of her Pokémon are feminine in design and are among the toughest the player has to fight in the story.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Ultimately subverted. She secretly serves as this to Guzma in the first half of the game, because while she doesn't directly get involved in Team Skull's schemes, she ''is'' their secret financial backer. Later on, she takes Guzma's place as the BigBad of the game, thus becoming much more involved in the plot as the true main antagonist of ''Sun And Moon''.
* GracefulLoser: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', defeating her at Title Defense has her take her loss ''much'' better than previous battles, even as far as finding it ''interesting''.
* GreenThumb: Uses a Lilligant.
* GoodParents: [[AbusiveParents While not so much in the main story]], Lillie states that Lusamine was a kind, loving mother before she changed. In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[CharacterDevelopment you can see this side of her later in the story.]]
* HalfHumanHybrid: In ''Sun and Moon''. She fuses with Nihilego to create this.
* HeelFaceTurn:
** She comforts Lillie and finally recognizes her as being beautiful even when not dressed to resemble Nihilego, before falling into a coma. Lillie reveals at the end of the game that Lusamine regained consciousness and is starting to rebuild her relationship with her daughter, also wanting to see you at your coronation as Champion.
** [[spoiler:She has a much more detailed one in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', coming to full terms with her faults and feeling remorse for them, now being determined to do her best to make it up to her children - from a safe distance, as she doesn't want to control their lives anymore. She also occasionally battles you in as a Champion challenger, being gracious and complimentary to you when she does.]]
* TheHeavy: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''--her actions still cause much of the conflict, but her previous BigBad status is now taken by Necrozma and later [[spoiler:Giovanni]].
* HeavySleeper: In ''Sun and Moon''. According to Wicke in the ''Sun and Moon'' post-game, the Nihilego's neurotoxins still in Lusamine's body are causing her to have issues with waking up[[note]]Wicke specifically says "the President is having issues rousing herself"[[/note]], implying that the neurotoxins side-effects include something akin to narcolepsy.
* HorrifyingTheHorror: She absolutely adores Ultra Beasts, so when she tells someone "Run away... that thing is a monster!" in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' when Necrozma shows up, ''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness it's time to run your ass off]]''.
* IHaveNoSon: She claims that she has no children right to Lillie's face when you are trying to rescue Cosmog from the Aether Foundation, citing that anybody who truly loved her wouldn't have betrayed and abandoned her as Lillie and Gladion both did. Then again, she hasn't been herself for a while.
** [[spoiler:Downplayed in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where she still disowns her children for stealing Cosmog and Type: Null, respectively, but she'll still do everthing she can to save them along with the Pokémon of Alola from Necrozma's wrath. Even her facial emotions express how downplayed it is, going from an enraged scowl in the original games to a hurt and disappointed look in the new games.]]
* IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she reunites with Mohn when he visits Aether Paradise for a tour of the facility. He does not remember it, or her, but Lusamine doesn't press the issue any further, and lets him go because he's happier this way. That said it is indicated she may rekindle her relationship with Mohn, as he expresses that he intends to see her again.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe:
** She doesn't care about anyone that she doesn't deem beautiful enough for her love, and even those that she does consider worthy of her love are viewed as possessions rather than sentient beings with free will. Before the final battle with her, Lillie calls her out for only ever thinking about herself; Lusamine doesn't even try to deny it and flat-out asks Lillie why she ''shouldn't''.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' she still has this characteristic to a degree, Lillie summarizing her as a selfish person because she does what she thinks is best for everyone without considering the feelings of others.
* {{Jerkass}}: In ''Sun and Moon''. While she seems nice the first time you meet her, Lusamine is revealed to be nothing but an extremely [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] and [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] ''bitch''. She is also abusive to Lillie and Gladion, and even [[IHaveNoSon disowns them as her children later on because they dared to reject her "love".]] Not to mention she even tried to ''[[OffingTheOffspring kill them!]]''
* JerkassHasAPoint: In ''Sun and Moon''. She wasn't wrong about the fact that you can put additional Pokemon in the PC, so technically they ''can'' be replaced if they aren't strong enough (interestingly Sun and Moon introduced a method to make any Pokémon have perfect [=IV=]s, making her argument less true).
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:she gains more likeable and redeeming qualities, such as having more [[WellIntentionedExtremist understandable]] and less completely selfish [[AntiHero motives]], and [[JerkassRealization ultimately]] realizing [[HeelRealization her mistakes]] and [[HeelFaceTurn doing her best to make it up to her children]], as well as being more [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure reasonable]]. Also, she only disowns them because she felt genuinely betrayed by them when they took Cosmog and Type: Null, but she still says that she will save them from Necrozma, showing that for all of her abrasiveness towards her children, she still cares about them enough to save them from Necrozma. Her response to Hau's surprise at her familial connection between herself and her children describe her best.]]
-->'''Lusamine:''' Those wretches beside you left me. But I will still save them.
* KickTheDog: In ''Sun and Moon''. Minor one, but when Nebby cries out in pain after being used to open a door to Ultra Space, she yells at it for making too much noise.
--> ''Ugh, must you be so noisy, even inside there? What an annoying Pokémon. The only thing I need from you is your power!''
** Overall, knowing very well that Nebby's ability to create Ultra Wormholes might end up '''killing it''' but going through with her actions anyway is a much more major example.
** Averted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where she takes pity on Cosmog's pain and briefly hesitates when Lillie again emphasizes that what she is doing could kill it.
* KillerRabbit: Most of her team consists of cute, but deadly Pokémon, such as Clefable, Bewear, and, no pun intended, Lopunny.
* KnightOfCerebus: The best example of this in the main series since [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Cyrus]] himself, who began the series' CerebusSyndrome.
* KnightTemplar: She believes she is doing something righteous when it comes to helping injured Pokemon, while her true intentions are unusually bizarre and twisted. [[spoiler:She is somewhat more of a straight example in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where she wants to defeat Necrozma and save Alola, although it's all under the justification that she can't "love [her] babies" if the world's light is stolen.]]
* LackOfEmpathy: In ''Sun and Moon''. When Lillie begs her not to use Nebby to open the Ultra Wormholes, warning her that doing so might kill it, Lusamine informs her that she knows that might happen, but as long as it does what she wants it to, she doesn't ''care''.
** [[spoiler:Averted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. When Lillie tells her that using Nebby to open the Ultra Wormhole might kill it, Lusamine understands it and clearly doesn't want to do this to Nebby, but she feels that she must in order to save Alola from Necrozma. After Necrozma's defeat at the hands of the player, Lusamine decides to take Nebby back to Aether Paradise to care for it, and orders Lillie to help care for it too, as a way to make up for what she did.]]
* LadyOfWar: She is a beautiful woman who gives off a serene and elegant aura, and also happens to be one of the most formidable battlers in Alola. This extends to her team, which are all stereotypically cute, elegant, or feminine in some way, and are also extremely powerful.
* LargeAndInCharge: She's rather tall and is the boss of the Aether Foundation.
* LaserGuidedKarma: In ''Sun and Moon''. In Ultra Space she ends up being defeated by the evolved Cosmog, [[TheDogBitesBack the same Pokémon she sent goons to chase after and ultimately abused it nearly to the point of death for her own selfish desires]].
* LeeroyJenkins: [[spoiler:Her sudden decision to fight Necrozma head-on alongside Guzma pretty much obliterated the Ultra Recon Squad's plans and burned the ashes.]]
* LightIsGood: Downplayed in ''Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:as she is willing to sacrifice Nebby if it means she can save Alola from Necrozma.]]
* LightIsNotGood: In ''Sun and Moon''. She's angelic in appearance, though ''definitely'' not in behavior. [[WomanInWhite She wears mostly white with gold]] with blonde hair and she's the biggest KnightOfCerebus since Cyrus as she outcasts two of her family members as tools for her will and when they defy her she decides to try to kill them (only when her madness reaches its peak though). She also is willing to [[ColdBloodedTorture torture "Nebby" to death]]. She states very clearly that if everyone doesn't agree to her standards then [[OmnicidalManiac everyone can die by her will]]. She's also a BadBoss who uses her minions as pawns.
* LivingDollCollector: She has a collection of Pokémon that she cryogenically froze to preserve their "beauty and perfection". She also treats her own children as dolls rather than people in ''Sun And Moon'', expecting them to look and behave however she wants them too, and viciously discarding them when they display the slightest bit of independence. Gladion likens living with her to being a "living ornament" instead of a person.
** [[spoiler:This is implied to be taken in a different direction in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where Lusamine is implied to have cryogenically froze her Pokémon collection and controlling her children to a certain degree [[NeverBeHurtAgain as a way to prevent losing anything else she loves,]] [[NeverBeHurtAgain like her husband Mohn]].]]
* LoveFreak:
** {{Deconstructed}}. Lusamine's motivations revolve around love, and she rants about trying to spread her love to everyone around her several times. The problem is, as a textbook {{sociopath}}, Lusamine doesn't really understand what love is, and as a result her brand of controlling affection tends to push others away, leaving her bewildered and angry over how anyone could reject her love before writing them off as being "ugly" and unworthy of her affections.
** It's revealed in the post-game that her father, who founded the Aether Foundation, was also a LoveFreak and that Lusamine inherited his love for Pokémon, particularly those that are beautiful or those most in need of it. She also loved her husband and children, loving the former so much that she drove herself mad in her research and experiments with Ultra Wormhole energy trying to bring him back after he went missing in the Wormhole. Then she discovered Nihilego and things took a drastic turn for the worse.
** Even in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' she cites her love for all Pokémon as her main motivation. Fortunately, she has a HeelRealization before it can get as extreme as it did in ''Sun and Moon'', claiming that a love where she can let others flourish on their own is a more beautiful kind of love.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: It's implied that her obsession with Ultra Beasts in ''Sun and Moon'' and her hatred towards Ultra Wormholes ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' came out of desperation to find her missing husband.
* MamaBear: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' [[spoiler:despite disowning her children because they left her, she still cares about them enough to try and protect them from Necrozma, and even when she is defeated, [[GoOnWithoutMe she tells Lillie and the player character to run away without her so she'll be safe from Necrozma.]]]]
* MagicPants: When fusing with Nihilego, her brooch, shoes and stockings disappear, only to come back intact after she's separated.
* MakingASplash: Uses a Milotic.
* TheManBehindTheMan: She's this in the first part of the story for Guzma, and therefore Team Skull, as their secret supporter.
* ManipulativeBitch: Lusamine's twisted perception of love is psychologically manipulating anyone she's fond of to keep them in line so she can continue to use them as puppets, and employs this on her children. She also sponsored Team Skull and convinced them to do her dirty work by taking advantage of their financial difficulties and personal turmoil, and [[VillainWithGoodPublicity used the Aether Foundation’s benevolent image to present herself as a good person]]. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', while her manipulative nature is still in place, her reasons are more altruistic, only needing Cosmog to open the Ultra Wormhole to stop Necrozma from stealing Alola's light, and having the Aether Foundation stop anyone who gets in her way to make sure no one can interfere with what she feels is for the greater good.]]
* MaskOfSanity: Lusamine's vicious insanity is very carefully masked behind an empathetic and loving facade. [[spoiler:Averted in ''Ultra Sun and Moon'', where her empathetic and loving nature is genuine this time, to the point where she'll do anything to protect all the Pokémon in existence, no matter what she has to do. It is implied that in ''Sun and Moon'' her previous behavior is a result of Nihilego's neurotoxins.]]
* MeaningfulName:
** The plant she's named after (the garden balsam or ''Impatiens balsamina'') is a beautiful ornamental plant with healing properties, fitting her benevolent appearance. However, it's also bitter and slightly toxic upon ingestion - which fits with [[BitchInSheepsClothing her nature under Nihilego's neurotoxins.]]
** Her English name keeps the above reference but brings to mind the Latin ''lux'' (light), in keeping with her appearance and status as head of the seemingly good Aether Foundation.
* MoralMyopia: In her Nihilego-induced state, Lusamine suffers almost from a BlueAndOrangeMorality where she cannot and does not comprehend that she and her actions could be wrong in any way. This makes her so disconnected from reality that she sees nothing wrong with hurting people, but can't stand when it naturally drives them away. In her eyes, rebelling against her wishes or showing any sort of opposition makes them "ugly" and no longer worthy of love; meanwhile ''she'' is the victim who's being hurt by ''them'' and never did anything wrong to deserve such treatment. After losing to the player character for the first time, she even asks him/her, without a hint of irony, "How can you be so ''awful?''" When later confronted by the player character and Lillie in Ultra Space, she actually states to her own daughter that she will never forgive her for stealing Cosmog from her, which really rings hollow considering that she tortured Cosmog into opening up multiple Ultra Wormholes against its will.
* MotiveRant: A brief one after Nihilego's first appearance, as she filibusters about sharing her love with the Ultra Beasts and all the other Pokémon in the world. [[CerebusRetcon It becomes much darker in hindsight]] once her TrueColors are revealed and the player learns just how twisted Lusamine's concept of "love" really is in ''Sun and Moon''.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Mother Beast Lusamine has several tentacles, four of which even have claws that make them look more hand-like. Ironically, she still lets her Pokémon do the fighting as opposed to getting involved herself.
* MumLooksLikeASister: She's in her 40s, but barely looks much older than her children.
* MyBelovedSmother: This is at least part of the reason Gladion ran away in ''Sun and Moon''; as according to him, he was "like an ornament" to her, wearing whatever she told him to wear, and acting however she wanted him to act. It's also why Lillie is so timid and lacks confidence.
* MysteriousBacker: Team Skull's. Her identity is at best, vaguely alluded to a few times, and it's only after Lillie is kidnapped that it comes out in full.
* NeverMyFault: She has a big problem with this in ''Sun and Moon'', [[MoralMyopia thinking she is justified in everything she does and that anyone who opposes her are the bad ones.]] [[spoiler:Not so much in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where she shows signs of wavering and has to convince herself what she's doing is justified, and then clearly admits that she was wrong and Lillie was right after getting her ass kicked by Necrozma.]]
* NoblewomansLaugh: Often does one when she's mocking Lillie. It is also her speaking animation in the overworld, as well as one of her poses in one of her ''TCG'' artworks.
* NonActionBigBad: Zigzagged -- She's plenty active in the story of ''Sun and Moon'' and battles the player twice, but after fusing with Nihilego and taking on a surely-stronger OneWingedAngel form... She still uses her Pokémon to fight the player, rather than battle them directly.
* NonElemental: Her Bewear is primary Normal type. In ''Pokemon Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon'' she uses Lopunny as a replacement for Mismagius.
* NotGoodWithRejection:
** It's subtle at times, but the game implies pretty heavily that most of Lusamine's villainy is/was prompted by the disappearance of her husband Mohn and the discovery of Nihilego, followed by both of her children running away from her due to her abuse of them. It becomes most obvious by the end of the Aether Foundation story arc, where, having been abandoned by her entire family, all she wants is to be left alone with the Nihilego in Ultra Space for the rest of her life because they'd become her gold standard for beauty, perfection, and worthiness of receiving her love.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' we see a bit more of this, although it's a bit more subdued. While her children leaving still has an effect, her reaction is not so extreme as to lead to hating her children, she still is deeply enraged by her children opposing and leaving her, and she still uses cryogenic freezing on various Pokémon so they can stay with her always. She gets better though after a humbling encounter with Necrozma, begins the process to restore the frozen Pokémon, allows her children independence, and even allows her amnesiac husband Mohn to choose how and when he meets with her.
* ObliviouslyEvil: In ''Sun and Moon'', it's implied that she's more [[TheMentallyDisturbed insane]] than out and out evil, which only serves to make her more dangerous and terrifying as it makes her nigh impossible to be reasoned with. She's insistent that what she's doing is right and refuses to let anyone tell her otherwise.
* OffingTheOffspring: In Sun and Moon, after losing her rematch against the player and utterly crazed/enraged, she tries to personally kill Lillie, being still fused with Nihilego.
* OlderThanTheyLook: She's over 40 years old - even though by first glance, she looks to be somewhere in her 20s - which is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Hau's dumbfounded reaction upon learning this fact.
* OneBadMother: ''Motherbeast'' definitely qualifies in the original games.
* OneWingedAngel: For the second battle against her, she fuses with Nihilego into a half-human, half-jellyfish beast, and uses Totem power to buff all of her Pokémon.
* OurFairiesAreDifferent: Uses a Clefable, which she always sends out first.
* ParentalNeglect: Lusamine's parenting is very neglectful, often refusing to listen to her children's concerns and simply ignoring them as she believes that she either [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon doesn't care about them, only the Ultra Beasts]], [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon or she's doing what's best for them.]]
* ParentsAsPeople: What she is in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. She's not the best parent, being very controlling, but she is otherwise a very well-meaning person and there is no doubt that she cares for her children unconditionally.
* PeekABangs: Her blonde bangs cover her right eye.
* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:After she is revealed to be a HeroAntagonist, a lot of these moments she has in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' substitute her [[KickTheDog crueler moments]] in the original games. First off, she thanks Lillie for keeping Cosmog safe until now, instead of saying that she'd betrayed her, and then when Cosmog is trying to resist, she takes pity on it instead of being annoyed for making too much noise and commends it for its bravery and love for Lillie.]]
* PoorPredictableRock: Surprisingly enough, her Mismagius is her ''only'' Pokémon that can't be completely shut down through resistances (as it knows Shadow Ball, Power Gem, and Mystical Fire). All of the others have only one or two attacking moves, leaving themselves wide open to being blocked by a 'mon with the right resistances. That said, her team as a whole is diverse enough that you'll likely need a separate Pokémon to deal with each of them if you go this route, and dedicated {{Stone Wall}}s will likely find themselves frustrated by the fact that ''every single one of them'' has some means of healing itself.
** Thrown out the window in ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon''. Every single one of her Pokemon has plenty of coverage moves thanks to the Move Tutor and only Bewear has any real healing option in Drain Punch, but that is really more to make up for the recoil damage of Take Down.
* PowerDyesYourHair: Her hair turns black (albeit a few thin streaks of its original color) after fusing with Nihilego, which itself changes from primarily light blue to black.
* ProperTightsWithASkirt: She wears a short skirt and some stockings. The stockings cover almost all of the leg.
* PsychopathicWomanchild: In ''Sun and Moon.'' She treats her children as if they were dolls, and is prone to throwing tantrums like a bratty teenager when angry.
* RapunzelHair: Lusamine's hair flares out nearly a foot on either side of her and reaches down to her hips.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: [[spoiler:She is more reasonable in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. When Gladion and Lillie start worrying for her safety, she decides to battle the player in order to reassure them that she'll be fine when she goes to stop Necrozma. And after Necrozma's defeat at the hands of the player, she clearly understood what she did wrong and resolves to make it up to her children from a safe distance.]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In ''Sun and Moon'', while Lillie is giving her one, Lusamine even gives one to ''the player character'' themselves. Especially to note that [[VillainHasAPoint she points out that just about everyone replaces the Pokémon in their party once they are no longer serving a use to them]]. Which is ''exactly'' what the player most likely did... Ironically, this is the game which introduced Poké Pelago, meaning that the player knows for a fact that their boxed Pokémon are on what amounts to an island vacation, and is likely visiting them regularly -- this is brought up as a counterargument exactly never.
* ReplacementGoldfish: In ''Sun and Moon'' she became obsessed with bringing Ultra Beasts into the world and joining them in their own world after her husband disappeared, even more so after her children ran away.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The fact that she had Aether develop Type: Full (later Type: Null) specifically for the purpose of fighting and killing Ultra Beasts, implies that she might have originally intended to destroy them for taking her husband, prior to becoming obsessed with them. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she still has this mindset, flat-out saying she hates the Ultra Wormholes and the creatures who dwell within it such as Necrozma.]]
* SanitySlippage: The loss of her husband did a number on her sanity, causing the obsession driving her during both stories' events. However, once she met Nihilego in ''Sun and Moon'' she got a lot worse...
* TheScream: In ''Sun and Moon''. Her only verbal reaction to losing her rematch against the player is to just give a wordless scream. This also being the only noise she makes when "fused" with Nihilego.
* {{Sadist}}: In ''Sun and Moon''. She often smiles happily whenever she emotionally abuses Lillie or Gladion and inflicting ColdBloodedTorture on Cosmog. This changes when you confront her in Ultra Space; where instead of expressing any joy, she's now almost perpetually consumed by rage over what the player and Lillie are doing, with even her PsychoticSmirk unable to hide her underlying rage.
* SheepInSheepsClothing: Downplayed in ''Ultra Sun and Moon''. Although she still retains some of her selfishness and some of her unsavory deeds from the original games, she is every bit as genuine in protecting all Pokémon, just like her company is striving for. This is even lampshaded by Hau.
-->'''Hau:''' Miss Lusamine is out there trying to keep Alola safe, right? I knew she was a good person!\\
'''Gladion:''' I guess... She's always convinced that what she's doing is right and she's really kind of selfish, but... But, I think she really just wanted to find our father, who disappeared into an Ultra Wormhole.
* ShesGotLegs: Nice, slender, ''long'' ones, as the camera and her ProperTightsWithASkirt like to reveal. If her official art and in-game model are to be trusted, her legs are almost twice as long as the rest of her body from the waist up!
* SlasherSmile: In ''Sun and Moon'', she tends to pull them off whenever she's plotting, and one could argue that even her regular smile counts as a subdued example of one. By the time she's been definitively revealed as a villain in ''Sun and Moon'', it's pretty much become her default expression.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' however, [[spoiler:because she isn't as bad in this version, she sports it far less.]]
* TheSociopath: In ''Sun and Moon'', she is this to a disturbing degree, especially considering she's a main villain in the original games, both which are intended for children. Her grasp of concepts like love and social interaction in general are extremely warped, with Lusamine's particular brand of "love" consisting of forcing control on anybody and anything which shows her the slightest bit of affection and whom she deems worthy of receiving her own affections - and reacting violently when they reject her. She's also quite self-absorbed, generally treats others like objects and/or tools to be used until they're run out of purpose for her (reinforced by Gladion's comment that she's "extremely kind as long as you mean absolutely nothing to her").
* StartOfDarkness: The disappearance of her husband Mohn is hinted to have made her into a much colder person.
* StatuesqueStunner: While no official height is given for her, she's clearly taller than average.
* StatusBuff: In the second battle against her, she utilizes her Beast Boost powers she obtained from Nihilego to give her Pokémon enhanced power right off the bat.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Her children also have platinum-blonde and angular hair as well as bright green eyes. Gladion also shares her PeekABangs hairstyle, albeit in a much different fashion than his mother.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: She sports these in her Mother Beast form.
* ToughLove: [[spoiler:Her treatment of her children in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' is suggested to be this. While she may have retained some of her controlling behavior, unlike the original games, there is no doubt that she cares about her children, enough to try and protect them from Necrozma. And when she acknowledges that Gladion and Lillie have grown up a bit since leaving Aether Paradise, she is genuinely happy. Also if you compare her expressions when she disowns Lillie, from ''Sun and Moon'' to ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', you'll see that unlike her enraged scowl in the original games, she has a disappointed and hurt expression in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.'']]
* TragicVillain: Once a caring wife and mother, her futile attempts to reunite with her husband and gradual SanitySlippage due to the Ultra Beasts made her the villain she is in the present. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she takes it upon herself to defeat Necrozma and save Alola, and her insistence on doing this herself only leads to her defeat and Necrozma almost destroying Alola. All for the sake of avenging her husband, Mohn.]]
* TraitorShot: In her first appearance in ''Sun and Moon'', when talking about Ultra Beasts, the camera zooms in on her eyes and her SlasherSmile.
* TranquilFury: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', when she finds out that Faba was the one who sold out the Aether Foundation to Team Rainbow Rocket, her expression is basically just a DeathGlare that contains enough anger to scare Faba into running away.
* {{Troperrific}}: She is competing with [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite N]] for stakes in this.
* TsurimeEyes: While Lusamine's eyes are normally like this, when Hau mentions Lillie in her first appearance and whenever Lusamine switches to her SlasherSmile, her eyes noticeably become even ''more'' slanted. After her final defeat and separation from Nihilego, her eyes look wider and brighter, indicating that her malevolence is gone.
* TheUnfought: In a sense. While you do fight her Pokémon, you don't get to directly fight her Mother Beast form in the original games.
* UselessUsefulSpell: Subverted with Milotic. Lusamine's Pokémon in the final encounter get a totem aura to power up a stat that benefits most of them, but Milotic, a special attacker, has her Attack boosted. It's revealed that she has Flail in her moveset, which ''does'' benefit from the boost.
* VileVillainSaccharineShow: In ''Sun and Moon''. This is a woman who while under the influence of a [[EldritchAbomination Nihilego]], [[AbusiveParents abused her children]] and tried to micromanage every aspect of their lives down to what clothes they should wear, [[IHaveNoSon declared that they weren't her children]] and eventually attempted to ''murder them'' when they tried to rebel against her control, freezes the Pokémon she adores so that they'll stay the same forever while they remain on display for her, is willing to hurt and even kill anybody or anyone to further her schemes, Pokémon or otherwise, and in general cares about absolutely nothing but herself and the things she desires. This is all in contrast with Team Skull's [[LaughablyEvil general ineffectual goofiness]] and Alola's cheerful and bright atmosphere.
* VillainHasAPoint: In ''Sun and Moon''. When Lillie tells her that people and Pokémon aren't hers to just collect, use and discard at her pleasure, Lusamine counters that ''trainers'' (using the player in particular as an example) do that exact thing, namely switching out weaker members of their party for stronger, more appealing Pokémon. While this doesn't excuse her any of her actions in any way, her point isn't refuted.
* VillainousBSOD: Downplayed in ''Sun and Moon''. She partly recovers after her final defeat in ''Sun and Moon'', yet she is still struggling with the remaining Nihilego's neurotoxins in her body.
* VillainousBreakdown: In ''Sun and Moon''. She undergoes a gradual one throughout the last part of the main story of ''Sun and Moon''. After her first defeat, she's annoyed by the player character's interference with her plans, but still appears relatively cool-headed. Compare this to her later appearance in Ultra Space, where she's visibly livid and angrily screaming at the player character and Lillie. This ultimately culminates in her fusing with Nihilego, which leaves her not only unable to speak coherently but also in a much more violent state of mind.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: In ''Sun and Moon''. Lusamine is the president of the Aether Foundation, a well-known organization that heals Pokémon. This helps mask her true colors, as she actually experiments on Pokémon to achieve her goals.
* WalkingSpoiler: It's nearly impossible to talk about her without spoiling that she's the villain of ''Sun and Moon'' or her changed role and true personality in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''.
* WeaponOfChoice: Bewear, very fittingly. They both seem cute and innocent, but are actually incredibly dangerous and give people unwanted love that hurts them.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she is willing to do anything to save the people and Pokémon she loves from Necrozma, even if it meant sacrificing Cosmog.]]
-->'''Lusamine:''' [[spoiler:I will force Cosmog to use its power and it may very well die. But if it will save the world for all my beloved Pokemon, then that is what I will do.]]
* WhenSheSmiles: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she sports this during her PetTheDog moments after she is revealed to be a HeroAntagonist, and it's oddly quite touching to see. Because she is not as bad this time, this is basically her default expression. This is in stark contrast to the original games where she sports a SlasherSmile during her KickTheDog moments.]]
* WindowsOfTheSoul: One of the earliest hints she's a villain in ''Sun and Moon'' for those paying attention to the art style are her eyes. Most everyone else has noticeable white highlights in their eyes. Lusamine's by contrast are flat, dull, and effectively lifeless looking from the moment she's introduced, giving her a creepy UncannyValley effect.
* WomanInWhite: Her top and skirt is mostly white with some gold to establish that LightIsNotGood. She also wears white stockings on her feet.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: In ''Sun and Moon''. It's stated that Lusamine's obsession with the Ultra Beasts stemmed from grief over the disappearance of her husband Mohn in an Ultra Wormhole, and that at least at first she was looking for a way to get him back, and possibly seek vengeance upon the Ultra Beasts using Type: Null. Lillie reminisces that her mother was fun-loving and kind to her before that incident, after which her obsession with finding Mohn and the discovery of Nihilego is implied to have twisted her into a gradually worsening sociopath, which eventually resulted in Gladion fleeing from her, later followed by Lillie herself. Ultimately, all Lusamine wanted was to have the love of her life back, but in her psychosis forgot how to care for her children and played with forces she didn't understand, and as a result both she and her family suffered the consequences that she was too obsessed to even consider in the first place.
* WouldHurtAChild: Makes an ambiguous murder threat to the player character at the start of their first battle in ''Sun and Moon'', an ''unambiguous'' murder threat at the start of their second battle, and then attempts to ''kill her daughter Lillie'' afterwards. [[spoiler:Averted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, when she states that even when Lillie and Gladion betrayed and left her, she will still save them along with all the Pokémon in existence, as it is her duty as President of the Aether Foundation, even if it she has to sacrifice Cosmog.]]
* {{Yandere}}: She really, really ''really'' loves the Ultra Beasts. So much so she would literally ''destroy the world'' if it meant being able to be with them. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', this trope is ''completely'' averted.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Wicke]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wicke_9.png]]
The assistant branch chief of Aether Paradise has a caring personality, so she’s loved by all the Aether Foundation employees.
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* FriendToAllLivingThings: Wicke cares about the well-being of the Foundation's Pokémon; because of this, she is popular among the Foundation's staff.
* IronicName: Her name is one letter away from the word "wicked". [[TokenGoodTeammate She is one of the few non-antagonistic members of the Aether Foundation, supports both Lillie and Gladion in opposition to their insane mother in Sun and Moon, and even heals your team when you storm Aether Paradise.]]
* {{Meganekko}}: Wicke's glasses only add to her charm.
* TheMole: You learn in the ''Sun and Moon'' post-game that she's now working for Interpol, and provides them with information on the Ultra Beasts.
* MsExposition: Her role for the remainder of ''Sun and Moon'' after the completion of the postgame is showing you info on the Ultra Beasts.
* NiceGirl: In the initial trailer that revealed the Aether Foundation, both Wicke and Lusamine were built up to be sweet and motherly characters. In the game proper, Wicke actually ''is'' as nice as the trailer made her out to be, in stark contrast to ''Sun and Moon's'' version of Lusamine.
* NeutralFemale: She neither directly opposes nor particularly assists the player's efforts at rescuing Lillie and Cosmog, though she ''does'' heal their Pokémon after they return to the Paradise's main floor for the second time.
* NonIndicativeName: Her name's Wicke, but she's not really wicked.
* OnlySaneWoman: Wicke is one of the few employees who remains nice and helpful throughout.
* ParentalSubstitute: Implied to have been a mother figure to Gladion and Lillie after Lusamine turned cold towards them.
* SheepInSheepsClothing: Wicke really is as nice as she appears to be, unlike Faba and ''Sun and Moon's'' version of Lusamine.
* SweaterGirl: She probably has a sufficient reason to wear a thick turtleneck sweater in the Alola region, but the pink sweater is the most vibrant part of her design.
* TokenGoodTeammate: She is the one who helped Lillie escape the Aether Foundation from the beginning. Also, during the protagonist's investigation of the Aether Foundation to save Lillie, Wicke is one of the few members who doesn't battle you. In fact, she even heals your team at one point. This is even further suggested in an official release poster for ''Ultra Sun and Moon'' which shows a VFormationTeamShot consisting of Guzma, Sophocles, the Player Character, and Wicke facing off against Team Rainbow Rocket.
* TheUnfought: The only named member of the Aether Foundation to not be fought, even though in ''Ultra Sun and Moon'' she mentions that she went on a journey in Kanto when she was younger, meaning that at least at one point she was a trainer.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Heavily implied to be malasadas. In both games, she gives the player character and Hau some Big Malasadas at various points. Taken further in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where she gives them away much more frequently, mentions malasadas when you talk to her in the postgame, and is even seen holding a basket of them in a [[https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/6e/Ultra_Sun_Ultra_Moon_Team_Rainbow_Rocket.png piece of promotional art]] for Episode RR.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Faba (Sauboh)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/faba_9.png]]
The Aether Foundation's branch chief. He has a very arrogant personality, and believes himself to be far more important than he actually is.
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* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler:He was a HateSink to begin with, but in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', he sells out the entire Aether Foundation to Team Rainbow Rocket, letting them take over so they can expand the company across ''entire dimensions'' with himself on top.]]
* BeardOfEvil: He sports a goatee, and has a habit of stroking it.
* BigWhat: When Hau points out the flaw in his plan to stop the group.
* BonusBoss: [[spoiler:Aside from being fightable at Aether Paradise in the post-game, he's also one of the potential challengers to the player's title of Champion... only in the original ''Sun and Moon'', however. His status as BonusBoss is AdaptedOut for Lusamine in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'']].
* ChildHater: After being defeated by the player character, he remarks how he dislikes children. Despite his later change of heart, he still seems to be this to an extent later on; when speaking to Faba in the post-game discussing whether he would make a better acting President of the Aether Foundation than Gladion and answering that Gladion would do a better job, he nearly goes on a tirade before stopping himself.
* CoolShades: The large, green sunglasses he wears are his trademark accessory, and are designed to resemble fava beans.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Hamminess, massive ego, and the below VillainBall moment aside, he's a competent enough Pokémon battler to [[spoiler:defeat Alola's Elite Four and challenge you for the title of Champion.]]
* DirtyCoward: Prides himself as the Aether Foundation's last line of defense in his debut yet refuses to fight a Skull Grunt to save a Slowpoke, questioning what they'd be able to do if he was incapacitated and gets the player to fight the grunt instead.
* DishingOutDirt: In ''Pokemon Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon'' his Slowbro is replaced by Claydol.
* EpicFail: His attempt to cover his tracks in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' in spades.
* EvilGenius: He oversaw the various projects regarding the Ultra Wormholes and is the lead researcher in the Foundation.
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:PlayedForLaughs. Rather than be arrested for his villainous actions, he is kept on at Aether Paradise... but is demoted to ''intern'' position, which absolutely horrifies and depresses him.]]
* HateSink: He's a selfish, greedy coward who only cares about standing on top of the company, and even being "reformed" along with the company doesn't help his case. [[spoiler:Even more so in his ''Ultra'' appearances, where he sells out his own company for his own advancement.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: Turns over a new leaf post-game. Or so he claims, him trying to become Aether President and nearly falling back into his ChildHater tendencies in the post-game also implies that he just wants to save his own ass. [[spoiler:Subverted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where he betrays the Aether Foundation in the post-game when a better offer shows up, showing that he only cares about his own advancement.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', Faba badmouthing Gladion is changed to him thinking that he would be a better president than Lusamine, calling her out for being an egotist. While Lusamine does still have issues with putting herself before other people, she's overall much better about it in these games than she was in ''Sun and Moon'' while Faba became even more of a selfish jerk.
* {{Irony}}:
** He claims to dislike children, yet his strongest Pokémon is a Hypno, a species that is notorious for preying on children's dreams.
** In the post-game, he gives the player a Dubious Disc during a conversation about him having turned over a new leaf.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He cares for himself and the advancement of his own career above anything and anyone else.
* {{Jerkass}}: He has a high opinion of himself and acts very condescending towards Wicke and the player character.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Actively cultivates his position as Branch Chief throughout the game, usually defying to engage in most of the other roles he needs to do through ego or incompetence, and is on Lusamine's side with her ambitions. As a result, he is demoted when the Aether Foundation is restructured following her defeat. In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:his demotion happens when he sells the entire foundation--Lusamine included--out to Team Rainbow Rocket explicitly to advance his own career, making his fate all the more poetically just.]]
* MakingASplash: His Slowbro and Bruxish. In the remakes, this redundancy is answered by replacing Slowbro (who never used a Water-type move in any of the battles it is used in, anyways) with Claydol.
* MeaningfulName: Named after fava beans, which are what his glasses are meant to resemble.
* NumberTwo: To Lusamine in the Aether Foundation. [[spoiler:Subverted after the post-game of ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where he is reduced to a intern.]]
* PsychicPowers: Specializes in Psychic-type Pokémon. He seems to avert the tendency for Psychic-type Pokemon users to be psychic themselves.
* TheQuisling: Being the DirtyCoward that he is, Faba jumps ship and joins with Team Rainbow Rocket.
* RedemptionDemotion: During the post-game, Faba gets demoted down to a rank-and-file member, but also promises that he's had a change of heart.
* ReformedButNotTamed: While he claims to have reformed following his demotion, he's still kind of a jerk.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He gets very annoyed when not given "proper respect", first shown with him getting upset with Wicke over her calling him "Mr. Faba", to which he points out he has a title for a reason.
* SmugSnake: He prides himself as a genius and a very important person, yet his plans to distract the heroes were very easily foiled. Driving this point further is the fact that [[{{Keet}} Hau]] of all people was the one to point this out.
* TheStarscream: [[spoiler:He sells out the Aether Foundation to Team Rainbow Rocket in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' just to aid his own career.]]
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: [[spoiler:After Giovanni's defeat at the end of ''Ultra Sun'' and ''Ultra Moon''[='s=] Episode RR, he tells Lusamine he "would never do such a thing as betray the foundation and invite Team Rainbow Rocket in, just to advance [his] career" after she regains consciousness and his lie falls flat with her in addition to Lillie, Guzma, and the protagonist. This ends up with him being demoted from branch chief to intern, after which he's shown doing manual labor for other employees.]]
* TokenEvilTeammate: Even if Aether Foundation was the main antagonist team in ''Sun and Moon'', Faba is the most-selfish one you'd ever met. But especially in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where Aether Foundation isn't evil, just misguided, he's this trope played straight.
* VillainBall:
** During the protagonists' second visit to the Aether Foundation in ''Sun and Moon'', Hau asks if Faba has a key to a locked door, to which he replies yes. Hau then points out that if he had just stayed hidden, said protagonists would then be stuck and probably unable to stop said evil plans.
** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', he instead tells the protagonists that Lusamine's at her mansion, during the point where they had no idea where she was.
* WeaponOfChoice: Hypno is his strongest and/or final Pokémon in every battle with him.
[[/folder]]
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Way too much of a run-on.
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* MoralMyopia: In her Nihilego induced state, Lusamine suffers almost from a BlueAndOrangeMorality where she cannot and does not comprehend that she and her actions could be wrong in any way, and makes her so disconnected from reality that she perceives situations in which she's hurt others and so those others acted in response to her abuse as one would reasonably expect them to as her victims being in the wrong for rejecting her "love" and rebelling against her wishes and showing her any sort of opposition, making them "ugly" and no longer worthy of love, whereas ''she'' is the victim who's being hurt by ''them'' and never did anything wrong to deserve such treatment. After losing to the player character for the first time, she even asks him/her, without a hint of irony, "How can you be so ''awful?''" When later confronted by the player character and Lillie in Ultra Space, she actually states to her own daughter that she will never forgive her for stealing Cosmog from her, which really rings hollow considering that she tortured Cosmog into opening up multiple Ultra Wormholes against its own will.
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* MoralMyopia: In her Nihilego induced Nihilego-induced state, Lusamine suffers almost from a BlueAndOrangeMorality where she cannot and does not comprehend that she and her actions could be wrong in any way, and way. This makes her so disconnected from reality that she perceives situations in which she's hurt others and so those others acted in response to her abuse as one would reasonably expect them to as her victims being in the sees nothing wrong for rejecting with hurting people, but can't stand when it naturally drives them away. In her "love" and eyes, rebelling against her wishes and or showing her any sort of opposition, making opposition makes them "ugly" and no longer worthy of love, whereas love; meanwhile ''she'' is the victim who's being hurt by ''them'' and never did anything wrong to deserve such treatment. After losing to the player character for the first time, she even asks him/her, without a hint of irony, "How can you be so ''awful?''" When later confronted by the player character and Lillie in Ultra Space, she actually states to her own daughter that she will never forgive her for stealing Cosmog from her, which really rings hollow considering that she tortured Cosmog into opening up multiple Ultra Wormholes against its own will.
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* TokenEvilTeammate: Even if Aether Foundation was the main antagonist team in ''Sun and Moon'', Faba is the most-selfish one you'd ever met. But especially in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where Aether Foundation isn't evil, just misguided, he's this trope played straight.
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* LoveMakesYouCrazy: It's implied that her obsession with Ultra Beasts came out of desperation to find her missing husband.
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* LoveMakesYouCrazy: It's implied that her obsession with Ultra Beasts in ''Sun and Moon'' and her hatred towards Ultra Wormholes ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' came out of desperation to find her missing husband.
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* AntiHero: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' the Aether Foundation genuinely wants to help Pokémon and protect the Alola region but will use unsavory methods to do so.]]
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* AntiHero: AntiHeroTeam: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' the Aether Foundation genuinely wants to help Pokémon and protect the Alola region but will use unsavory methods to do so.]]
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** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', it's more [[JustifiedTrope justified]], as Lusamine is not as villainous as she was in the games. Because she is now motivated by the desire to avenge the loss of her husband, Lillie makes it clear that while she didn't approve of her mother's methods, she understood that they were motivated by the desire to avenge her father. As such when Lusamine apologizes to her for what she did, it's obvious that Lillie had already forgiven her.
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** In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', it's more [[JustifiedTrope justified]], as Lusamine is not as villainous as she was in the original games. Because she Lusamine is now motivated by the desire to avenge the loss of her husband, Lillie makes it clear that while she didn't approve of her mother's methods, she understood that they were motivated by the desire to avenge her father. As such when Lusamine apologizes to her for what she did, it's obvious that Lillie had already forgiven her.
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* ManipulativeBitch: Lusamine's twisted perception of love is psychologically manipulating anyone she's fond of to keep them in line so she can continue to use them as puppets, and employs this on her children. She also sponsored Team Skull and convinced them to do her dirty work by taking advantage of their financial difficulties and personal turmoil, and [[VillainWithGoodPublicity used the Aether Foundation’s benevolent image to present herself as a good person]]. [[spoiler:But in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, while her manipulative nature is still in place, her reasons are more altruistic, only needing Cosmog to open the Ultra Wormhole to stop Necrozma from stealing Alola's light, and having the Aether Foundation stop anyone who gets in her way to make sure no one can interfere with what she feels is for the greater good.]]
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* ManipulativeBitch: Lusamine's twisted perception of love is psychologically manipulating anyone she's fond of to keep them in line so she can continue to use them as puppets, and employs this on her children. She also sponsored Team Skull and convinced them to do her dirty work by taking advantage of their financial difficulties and personal turmoil, and [[VillainWithGoodPublicity used the Aether Foundation’s benevolent image to present herself as a good person]]. [[spoiler:But in Ultra [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Moon'', while her manipulative nature is still in place, her reasons are more altruistic, only needing Cosmog to open the Ultra Wormhole to stop Necrozma from stealing Alola's light, and having the Aether Foundation stop anyone who gets in her way to make sure no one can interfere with what she feels is for the greater good.]]
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* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Motherbeast Lusamine has several tentacles, four of which even have claws that make them look more hand-like. Ironically, she still lets her Pokémon do the fighting as opposed to getting involved herself.
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* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Motherbeast Mother Beast Lusamine has several tentacles, four of which even have claws that make them look more hand-like. Ironically, she still lets her Pokémon do the fighting as opposed to getting involved herself.
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* NonActionBigBad: Zigzagged -- she's plenty active in the story of ''Sun and Moon'' and battles the player twice, but after fusing with Nihilego and taking on a surely-stronger OneWingedAngel form... she still uses her Pokémon to fight the player, rather than battle them directly.
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* NonActionBigBad: Zigzagged -- she's She's plenty active in the story of ''Sun and Moon'' and battles the player twice, but after fusing with Nihilego and taking on a surely-stronger OneWingedAngel form... she She still uses her Pokémon to fight the player, rather than battle them directly.
* ParentalNeglect: Lusamine's parenting is very neglectful, often refusing to listen to her children's concerns and simply ignoring them as she believes that she either [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon doesn't care about them, only the Ultra Beasts]], [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon or she's doing what's best for them.]]
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* TragicVillain: Once a caring wife and mother, her futile attempts to reunite with her husband and gradual SanitySlippage due to the Ultra Beasts made her the villain she is in the present. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she takes it upon herself to defeat Necrozma and save Alola, and her insistence on doing this herself only leads to her defeat and Necrozma almost destroying Alola.]]
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* TragicVillain: Once a caring wife and mother, her futile attempts to reunite with her husband and gradual SanitySlippage due to the Ultra Beasts made her the villain she is in the present. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she takes it upon herself to defeat Necrozma and save Alola, and her insistence on doing this herself only leads to her defeat and Necrozma almost destroying Alola. All for the sake of avenging her husband, Mohn.]]
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* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Heavily implied to be malasadas. In both games, she gives the player character and Hau some Big Malasadas at various points. Taken further in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where she gives them away much more frequently, mentions malasadas when you talk to her in the postgame, and is even seen holding a basket of them in a [[https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/6e/Ultra_Sun_Ultra_Moon_Team_Rainbow_Rocket.png piece of promotional art]] for [[spoiler:Episode RR]].
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* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Heavily implied to be malasadas. In both games, she gives the player character and Hau some Big Malasadas at various points. Taken further in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where she gives them away much more frequently, mentions malasadas when you talk to her in the postgame, and is even seen holding a basket of them in a [[https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/6e/Ultra_Sun_Ultra_Moon_Team_Rainbow_Rocket.png piece of promotional art]] for [[spoiler:Episode RR]].Episode RR.
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[[caption-width-right:350:Aether's "Last Line of Defense"]]
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* ChildHater: After being defeated by the player character, he remarks how he dislikes children. Despite his later change of heart, he still seems to be this to an extent later on; when speaking to Faba in the post game discussing whether he would make a better acting President of the Aether Foundation than Gladion and answering that Gladion would do a better job, he nearly goes on a tirade before stopping himself.
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* ChildHater: After being defeated by the player character, he remarks how he dislikes children. Despite his later change of heart, he still seems to be this to an extent later on; when speaking to Faba in the post game post-game discussing whether he would make a better acting President of the Aether Foundation than Gladion and answering that Gladion would do a better job, he nearly goes on a tirade before stopping himself.
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a spelling correction. Also changed the emphasis; we don't shout in our entries.
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* VillainousBSOD: Downplayed in ''Sun and Moon''. She partly recovers after her final defeat in ''Sun and Moon'', yet she is still stuggling with the remaining Nihilego's neurotoxins in her body.
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* VillainousBSOD: Downplayed in ''Sun and Moon''. She partly recovers after her final defeat in ''Sun and Moon'', yet she is still stuggling struggling with the remaining Nihilego's neurotoxins in her body.
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* {{Yandere}}: She really, really ''really'' loves the Ultra Beasts. So much so she would literally ''destroy the world'' if it meant being able to be with them. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', this trope is completely AVERTED.]]
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* {{Yandere}}: She really, really ''really'' loves the Ultra Beasts. So much so she would literally ''destroy the world'' if it meant being able to be with them. [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', this trope is completely AVERTED.''completely'' averted.]]
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* BenevolentBoss: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she treats her employees far better than her original counterpart, even if she is not without flaws. She even treats Guzma more respectfully and makes good on her statement on how strong Guzma is by treating him more like a partner than a pawn.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lusamine_sm.png]]
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[[caption-width-right:350:Aether's "Last Line of Defense]]
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[[caption-width-right:350:Aether's "Last Line of Defense]]Defense"]]
